


Beta Tested

by Lotorsass



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Keith (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beta Hunk (Voltron), M/M, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Omega Lance (Voltron), Omegaverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:33:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 34,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22897285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotorsass/pseuds/Lotorsass
Summary: Hunk is just a beta, so what would he know about his two alpha and omega friends getting together? This will be one bumpy ride.
Relationships: Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 107
Kudos: 376





	1. My Word Vomit

**Author's Note:**

> I just felt like there's not enough omega Lance work out there, and I truly feel like Keith's an alpha kind of guy, with his gruff personality, and please don't judge me-

It was an off day for the paladins of Voltron at this particular time, a rarity when such a heavy title as "defenders of the universe" was taken into consideration. Nonetheless, an off day it was, and Hunk and Lance were having an off-shoot of a slumber party in the main break room to make the most of it. 

"And so I said to the omega that she could hang with me any time." Lance finished up one of his many stories of him failing at flirting.

"And did she take you up on that offer?" Hunk knew the answer, but it was more fun to watch him squirm.

"No... but it's only because I haven't presented yet! Once I start getting that alpha scent going, not a single omega will be able to resist!" Lance was thoroughly convinced that he would wake up an alpha one day despite him being a bit on the late side if it were to occur. Something in him, told him that there was no way he could just be an average joe, and being an alpha was the best of the best. 

"There's no shame in being a beta you know. I'm almost 100% sure I'm a beta, and you're not judging me." The sass was great with him in this moment, although his words seemed calm. 

Lance winced at the realization of insulting his best friend. “Sorry bud, I didn’t mean it as a bad thing it’s just... there’s something that’s telling me I’m not a beta ya know? Plus, I can’t let Keith be the only one around here parading his Alpha scent around like the hot shot jerk he is.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes, amused at Lance’s antics. “You should really get to know him better.” He said, lying with his back to the wall, but his head turned up to the ceiling. “I just don’t think you have a... I don’t know... clue I guess? I mean... you just aren’t on the same page as him with this whole rivalry thing you got going.” 

“Tsk- Yeah right, I got that mullet’s number locked down.” Lance griped. 

Hunk gave him ‘the look’. 

“Seriously!” Lance continued. “I mean- yeah he smells good, but he doesn’t even /care/, and half his time he chooses to be alone! Like how fair is that?” 

“I don’t think he smells nice, if that’s what you’re looking for.” Hunk said, trying to give Lance even the tiniest clue as to his hidden affections for Keith. “And I don’t really think alphas tend to just think of other alphas like that.”

Lance’s eye twitched. “Well I don’t!” He exclaimed defensively. “Besides... even if I did, it’s not like it’s the dark ages, alphas can like other alphas...” 

“I’m not saying that, it’s just... I’ve never heard of alphas being attracted to another alpha from scent. Maybe you are a beta, and there’s nothing wrong with that.” Hunk was trying to be a supporting friend, and to him, that sometimes meant pulling Lance back down to earth from his large ideas of grandeur. Knowing him that long meant he was fully aware of the self destructive patterns that Lance could get into, and public enemy number one was his boisterously optimistic side. 

Still... “hey, it’s gonna be alright, being an alpha or not.” Hunk consoled the teen, getting closer to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “There’s always the off chance you’re a late bloomer, but even if you aren’t, I’ll stand by you.” 

After that conversation, things were back into their usual swing, what with training, and small missions, as Voltron typically did. Still, something was... off...

“Wow, Allura really didn’t pull any punches.” Lance said, resting his head on Keith’s shoulder. He was sweating up a storm, but weren’t they all? Allura had in fact planned a difficult training course for them all that they were just cooling down from. Since when was Lance so open about showing affection to Keith? 

Altogether, it was hilarious to see Keith just look down at Lance with this sort of stiff, panicky look. Lance wasn’t paying attention, just nuzzling into Keith’s shoulder. Keith huffed, crossing his arms, a red tinge becoming apparent on his face.

“Uh, Lance?” Pidge said, giving the boy a sideways glance. “I think Keith’s getting a little freaked out with your personal- or lack there of, personal space.” 

Lance looked up lazily, then back at Keith. “Just one more... one more minute.” He slurred, taking a deep breath in through his nose. 

“Alright buddy, you’re just tired huh?” Hunk said scooping his friend up into his arms. “Let’s get you to bed.”

And what did Lance do? 

He started to whimper, looking back at Keith like a kicked puppy. 

“Does anyone smell... an omega around here?” Keith asked hesitantly.

Hunk caught a whiff of the air.

Oh no.

Lance. 

“Keith! Go to the other end of the room!” Hunk ordered, immediately trying to protect Lance. Keith hesitantly complied, choosing to go as far as leaving the room, in somewhat of a sulking manner. 

Hunk was able to get Lance safely to his room, placing him on his bed. “Okay Lance, you have to promise to stay here, it’s not safe for you to be roaming the castle while in preheat.”

“I don’t want to be here.” Lance muttered, pulling at his bedsheets to make a nest anyways. “I want Keith.” 

Damn Lance was whipped. Hunk should’ve known from the beginning, ever since he first started to complain about the alpha. Still, he don’t know if it was dumb luck or a crappy roll of the dice that Lance ended up being an omega. 

No matter the circumstances, Hunk knew he just had to be a good friend, and let this all play out with as minimal damage as he could manage. 

It was then that he heard a rap at the door. Hunk looked back at Lance who was stretching out on his nest, and decided he could afford to answer it. He opened the door, to find Keith there, holding a couple of bedding items. Hunk gave Keith a quizzical look. 

“Before you say anything, I just thought Lance might like some... alpha smelling things...” Keith said with a small shrug. “I don’t want to mess with him or whatever, I know he hates me in most circumstances.” 

It took everything in Hunk to not laugh right in Keith’s face. He settled on a funny looking smile paired with a nod. “You know... most alphas give nesting stuff to omegas when they’re courting them. You wouldn’t be happening to do that would you?” 

Keith’s pupils tightened, acting as if he had been caught, and in a way, he definitely was. “I- uhm... I know this is the worst time to make Lance consider any of that stuff, but I just... I want him to know by the end of it that I care.” He mumbled. 

Lance was always the type of person to chuck his affections at the first attractive person he came in contact with. It was often dangerous, so in light of that, Hunk was glad Lance found someone who was willing to just be there for him. Even when being there meant taking a step back from the action. 

“I’m... I’m going to go now.” Keith said, shoving his stuff into Hunk’s arms. “All this omega scent is making my head a little screwy.” Hunk smiled, watching the alpha walk away. Maybe there was hope for the two of them after all. 

Hunk brought the items into Lance’s room, as to which Lance happily took them, sniffing and scenting them to their fullest. “Hunk, ol’ buddy, my pal?” Lance said, looking lazily up at the beta. “You might wanna vamoosh, because I think the clothes are coming off now.” He tugged at the collar of his shirt, airing it out a bit.

“Sure thing.” Hunk said with a soft smile. He left, thinking about his friend, and hoping the best for him. Shortly upon his exit he bumped into a short Paladin with a short temper, otherwise known as Pidge. 

The two took a moment to shake themselves out of the shock of initially running into each other, Pidge peering at her laptop, making sure it hadn’t gotten dented in the crash. 

“How’s Lance doing?” Pidge asked. “Has he bumped uglies with Keith yet?”

Hunk snorted, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You’re just using your sarcasm to hide how much you care about those two.” 

Pidge sighed through her nose, looking away. “Well yeah, they’re my teammates, no matter how dumb and clueless they are.”

And they sure were clueless. Keith showed some of that cluelessness when he said down at dinner, eating his food with this thoughtful look on his face. “It’s kinda weird...” Keith lamented. “Usually Lance just picks up the conversation and runs with it.” 

“Awe, does Keith miss Lance?” Pidge teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Keith blushed, taking a bite of his food to avoid answering. 

“Look I know I probably shouldn’t be saying anything.” Hunk said, saying something anyways. “But you should just tell him. Lance told me once that like- the biggest risk you can take is not taking any at all, so I think he’ll respect that.” 

Keith refused to respond, a cold aura about him, all mysterious and brooding- words that Hunk could almost swear he’s heard from Lance in regards to Keith. 

“Maybe we should just lock them in Lance’s room together.” Pidge suggested in private with Hunk in the kitchen after dinner.

Hunk’s eyes widened, “We are _not_ getting Lance pregnant!” He exclaimed. 

Pidge snorted, cracking up at Hunk’s expression. “Not now! Jeez, I know he’s in heat... just like later, when all the pheromones die down.” 

“I still don’t think that’s a good idea. They’d kill each other before any confession happened.” Hunk mused. “Wait. Does anyone know where Keith went after dinner?” 

Pidge and Hunk ran to Lance’s room, just as Keith was about to open the door, and Hunk grabbed him by his collar. “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked accusingly. 

Keith showed them both the bowl of food that he had in his other hand. “Lance needs to eat.” He grumbled. 

“Then why didn’t you ask one of us betas, who aren’t affected by Lance’s heat to go give it to him?” Pidge asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“He needs to eat.” Keith repeated, his face red, but his eyebrows furrowed, and angry mixed with embarrassment. 

Hunk sighed, “Come on Keith, just let me take this to him.” He said, reaching for the bowl. This was getting laughable, the way that Keith cared so much about Lance, but was unwilling to let his guard down and actually admit real feelings that went just persistent anger. 

“No!” Keith hissed, pulling the bowl away from Hunk’s reach, his eyes turning- yellow? “I’m giving him the food.” 

Hunk and Pidge both looked at each other, worried for their friends. “Fine, but I’m going into the room too.” Hunk said.

“Hunk! What if they try to- do it?” Pidge whispered. 

“Well it’s my job to make sure they don’t.” 

Hunk followed Keith into the room, and watched him keel down next to Lance’s nest. Lance was completely naked now, looking lazily up at Keith. “Alpha.” Lance murmured, closing his eyes and smiling. 

Keith let out a calming scent, and took a spoonful of food, holding it up to Lance’s mouth. Lance ate, occasionally choosing to nuzzle Keith’s arm, ignoring the food in front of him. It seemed so private, but Hunk cared enough for his friend that he didn’t want Keith to take advantage of him. 

Soon enough, the bowl was empty, and Keith set it to the side. He cupped Lance’s cheek, smiling affectionately. 

“Stay~” Lance begged, placing his hand on Keith’s. 

“You know I can’t do that.” Keith said, almost regretfully. “Ask me again when your heat’s over, and we’ll work it out together.”

About the time that Keith picked up the bowl and turned away to the door, that’s when Lance started bawling. “Keith! Keith!” He cried out, a shrill whine accompanying it.

Keith looked back, but Hunk helped escort him out of the room. “You’re doing the right thing.” He assured Keith. The pitiful expression Keith wore spoke volumes on how much he had fallen for Lance. 

It was a start. Hunk observed. Maybe those two would fall for each other.


	2. Rock, Paper, Scissors, Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, very little actual inclusion of Lance, but I wanted to expand upon Keith's feelings lol. Idk how long this will be- or even if I'll post another chapter, but here ya go, take it! *uses Bitenbinder method to run away*.

It became a daily occurrence, Keith taking food to Lance, while Hunk played guard, just watching the two. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Keith as a person, but… This was his best friend, and as a beta it was Hunk’s job in the pack to make sure that everyone was safe. Plus, he knew from observations that Keith was so close to just caving into Lance’s requests. It wasn’t his fault, Hunk had to admit. Lance started to say cheesy pick up lines every time that Keith walked into the room. It wasn’t really tasteful, Hunk was a bit annoyed by it, but Keith would blush like a stop sign, so at least Hunk knew that Keith really loved Lance, and all of his goofiness. 

“Would you grab my arm, so I can tell people I was touched by an angel?” Lance purred, snuggling up in his blanket. Hunk rolled his eyes. Here we go again…

Keith gulped, picking up the spoon, and holding it out to Lance’s mouth. “Just because I’m on the side of the angels, don’t think for a second that I’m one of them…” he muttered. Where did that even come from? 

Lance hummed, taking a spoonful of food in his mouth and swallowing it. “Keith~” he moaned, and something told Hunk that he didn’t want to know where Lance’s hands were under the covers. 

Hunk had to turn away, he felt so perverted, having to babysit his friends like this. Maybe he could trust Keith, he had held on for so lo-

Hunk looked back, only to find Keith passionately kissing Lance. “No!” Hunk said forcefully, pulling Keith away. God, they were like horny children! 

Keith’s face was red, growling a bit as he was shoved out of the room. “It was just a kiss!” He argued. 

“Just a-“ Hunk sighed, trying to collect himself. “Just a kiss is everything to Lance. Trust me, I’ve known him for a long time. It was stupid for me to think you could’ve handled yourself for as long as you have. These meal time visits are over.” 

“What?!” Keith exclaimed, his aura darkening. “But he’s my-” he cut himself off, his brows shooting up from realizing what he was saying.

Hunk raised a brow. “Please continue with that very possessive sentence.” He said sarcastically.

Keith put his face in his hands, and Hunk could guess that it was burning red. “I’m sorry! He’s just- it’s hard to say no.” 

Hunk couldn’t help but feel sorry for the alpha. “That’s why you need to stay away. Don’t get me wrong, I’m rooting for you two, but in a healthy way, a way that doesn’t end in regrets.” 

“You’re right.” Keith said, looking up a bit more determined. “I just need to find a courting gift for him. Maybe a knife?” 

“Keith, you’re thinking of what you’d like, not Lance.” Hunk reminded Keith. 

Keith’s brows furrowed as he looked down, and Hunk could almost see the gears turning in his head. “I’ll get him a gun!” he exclaimed after a moment of contemplation, and then ran off. 

To where? Lord only knows. Hunk didn’t even bother to ask. He retreated to Lance’s room to finish giving him his meal. 

“Where’s Keith?” Lance mumbled, as Hunk picked up the bowl, sitting down just outside his friend’s nest. 

Hunk sighed, trying to think of the right way to explain this to Lance- who was currently an emotional omega in heat. “I uhm… asked him to step out. He’ll be back after your heat’s over.”

Lance huffed, turning his back on Hunk, curling in on himself. “No Keith, no food.” He whimpered, and it took everything in Hunk not to roll his eyes.

“Come on Lance, you need to eat.” He said, looking down at the bowl. It was halfway finished, so at least he had taken some of it. 

For the next half an hour or so, Hunk attempted to coax Lance into finishing the rest, with no avail. This would have to be the most troubling development Hunk had seen so far. Luckily, Lance’s heat was due to end soon, and if worse comes to worse, he would just be hungry for another day or two. The beta eventually gave up, walking out with the food in hand, and went to the kitchen to clean it all off. 

Pidge was in there, sitting on the counter, her hand stuck in a cookie jar, crumbs on her face. “Oh! Hi!” she squeaked, setting the cookie jar to the side, and wiping the crumbs off with her sleeve. 

Hunk laughed, setting the bowl down into the sink. “I knew someone was after my cookies.” He teased.

“I’m sorry, they’re just too good!.” she complained, putting the lid back on the jar. “Seriously, if we didn’t have to defend the universe every other day, you’d be famous for this.” 

A light sparked in Hunk’s mind. “Maybe I could take some to Lance, and then he’d eat!” he said aloud. 

“Wait- Lance isn’t eating?” Pidge asked, worry tinted in her voice. “For how long?” 

“Yeah… I kicked Keith out for making out with Lance, and now Lance is on hunger strike.” Hunk explained. “It's only just happened, but you know how dramatic he can be.”

Pidge snorted, “No kidding. You think Keith is actually going to court him?” 

Hunk put his head in his hands. “Oh god, don’t remind me. He is… just maybe not in the most romantic way.” 

“Honestly, it doesn’t matter.” Pidge said with a shrug. “You know Lance better than I do, and that being said, Lance would accept a dirty sock if Keith put in the tiniest of effort into the thought behind it. They care about each other, so I support their weird romance.” 

“I guess you’re right…” Hunk muttered. “Pidge… Have you ever thought about mating and all of that?” Hunk asked, he asked, looking at the other beta. 

Pidge’s face turned red, and she twirled the ends of her hair, looking away. “Yeah, sure… in a distant far off land, where I’m actually attractive, and not in the middle of a space war.” 

“You’re attractive.” Hunk blurted out, before biting his lip. “I… I mean just generally- Like, can’t I just say you’re attractive without it meaning too much?” 

“Well it depends. What is too much exactly?” Pidge mumbled, trying to figure out where she was in Hunk’s point of view. 

Hunk thought for a moment, his words stuck on the back of his tongue. “I don’t know. I just don’t like you putting yourself down.” He finally said. “You’re a lot more than what you think you are.” 

Pidge smiled, hopping off the counter, and hugging him as tight as she could. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.” 

The betas both blushed, Hunk hugging Pidge right back. Hunk couldn’t help but be reminded of what Pidge’s father had said, comparing the two of them to Pidge’s parents. That had to be a good sign, right? 

“I’ll help keep an eye on Keith and Lance for you.” Pidge promised, after breaking the hug. “Being in the castle ship with your crush… well it does stuff to your head. It’s practically like living with them.” 

Hunk nodded. “Yeah, hormones and close spaces do have that effect on people.” Hunk was so close to Pidge, all he had to do was lean down and- 

No. Not now. He was already trying to deal with his friend’s tricky romantic escapades, he couldn’t cloud his judgement by starting anything with Pidge. 

“I uhm… gotta go check on Lance again. Could you pass me a cookie?” Hunk asked, nervously scratching the back of his head. 

“Oh- uhm- yeah, sure thing.” Pidge said, handing him one. Hunk accepted it, and left to Lance’s room again. Pidge definitely was in his mind. Sure he had had something with Shay in the past, but with the distance, and busyness of his line of work, they had called it off. He knew he wanted to be with someone that had a lot in common with him and well Pidge- She was super smart in the coding world, and could appreciate good food. They often hung out together, and Hunk had to intentionally pull himself away on occasions, so that Lance didn’t feel like the odd man out. 

Maybe if Lance did get together with Keith they could go on double dates- but that was assuming that Pidge felt the same way. So far, all Hunk had to go on was those small moments that Pidge and him shared, where he just felt like there was something else between them. He wasn’t dense, he knew that being with Pidge wasn’t like being with a friend, but part of him worried that it was only a figment of his own imagination. 

When he got to Lance’s room, Keith was sitting down outside the door, leaning on the opposite wall to the door, holding a decent sized sniper rifle. 

“What the quiznack are you doing?!” Hunk exclaimed, throwing his hands up. 

Keith put the gun down, looking away. “Well… I remembered I was banned, so I decided to wait out here, and then… gun.” 

“Gun?!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty self explanatory.” 

Hunk pinched the bridge of his nose. If the space war wasn’t giving him grey hairs, this definitely would. “Where did you get the gun?” he asked. 

Keith only shrugged. “Where all the other weapons are in the castle.” 

Hunk vaguely remembered an armory when Allura and Coran had shown them around the castle. He hadn’t really gone down there since then, because the bayards were all they really needed. To know that Keith had access to it at any random time was definitely concerning. “And you’re going to give that to Lance?” Hunk asked. 

“Yeah… his heat’s almost over, I can smell it.” Keith said. 

Hunk was surprised at how in tune Keith was to Lance’s scent. He knew that alphas had better noses, but not to this extent. “What does it smell like?” Hunk asked out of curiosity. 

Keith looked up at Hunk, surprised by that question. “Oh- well, when omegas are in heat, their scent is like, really sweet. Towards the end of it, it gets less and less, till they go back to normal.” he explained. “I’ve been to a bunch of foster homes, so I got used to knowing when to stay away from omegas.”

“Makes sense.” Hunk mused. “Then why can’t you seem to stay away from this omega?” 

Keith blushed, and his hand inched closer to the gun, making Hunk wary. He didn’t end up touching it, but the mere act was alarming. “He’s just… this bright light that fills up the room. I’ve never known how to talk to crowds, yet I can always pick him out of one. He’s bold, and wise. I want to rush in and do everything, but he holds me back and finds a better way. Not to mention he’s… very attractive.” 

Damn. It was obvious to Hunk that Keith knew his feelings, and Lance was a little slow on the uptake. “Have you ever, like, flirted with him?” Hunk asked curiously, wondering how self aware Keith truly was. 

“No!” Keith exclaimed, crossing his arms. “God- he’d laugh at me! He’s just… so good at it, and none of it’s directed at me- aside from when he’s in heat, and I don’t think that really counts. I just happen to be the first alpha he sees.” 

“Lance? Good at flirting?” Hunk snorted. “He’s a mess! Plus he only pulls stuff like that to make people think he’s straight.” 

“Yeah no, I’m not oblivious- he’s definitely bi. I know that.” Keith said. “I knew that kiss wasn’t nothing…”

Hunk sighed. He wanted his friends to do things the right way, but he knew he shouldn’t be so controlling. “You can go back and give him this cookie if you want.” He said, handing it over.

“But you said-“

“I know what I said… I also know I can trust you. I can trust you right?” Hunk asked.

Keith nodded, holding the cookie. He walked into the room, and Hunk didn’t make a move to follow him. “Are you-“ he started with, looking back at Hunk, “going to follow me?” 

“Honestly, I’m done babysitting you two. What you decide to do, it’s on you, not on me.” He replied, already jittery with the thought that this was a bad idea. 

Keith smiled, going into the room. “Thanks, you’re a great teammate.” 

Hunk raised an eyebrow. “I think the word you’re looking for is friend,” he said to Keith. “Now go in there before I change my mind- and remember, I could walk back in at any second!” 

Hunk watched Keith leave the hallway, and he sat down outside, hoping that he had made the right decision. So far, he hadn’t heard any sex sounds, so that was good.

God, when had it gotten to this crazy point in his life when he was listening to see if his best friend was moaning? Maybe he was being too nosy…

Still, he had decided that he’d protect his best friend, who would probably be mortified that his first kiss was while he was in heat. Reluctantly, he opened the door. The room smelled like Keith, that much was evident, and Lance’s head was rested on Keith’s lap. 

Keith looked up at Hunk, giving a small smile. “He should be heat-free by the time he wakes up. He just ate the cookie and passed out.” 

“You’re a good friend, you know that right?” Hunk said to Keith. 

“Yeah, but I’d rather be a good boyfriend…” Keith lamented. 

Hunk patted Keith’s back. “You’ll get there, just be patient with him- and please wait on the gun.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay- so what do you think of Punk? Should I keep it?


	3. My Boi is Back!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is out of his heat, so he's hitting the streets!

Lance’s big entrance back into the world as a fully functioning teen, was just as grandiose as one would expect from a guy like him. It was breakfast time, and over the castle speakers everyone could hear “Despacito” playing at a volume so high that it could easily rival their urgent castle alarm system. 

“He’s back.” Hunk and Pidge said simultaneously, then looked at each other, surprised that the other had said the same thing, then went back to their meal, like the awkward penguins they were. 

Lance moonwalked into the room, then turned to face them dramatically, “Bet you saw the last of me quiznacks.” he said, with finger guns and a wink. 

“Lance, that is not how we’re supposed to use the intercom.” Shiro chastised. “But we’re glad to have you back.” He smiled, not able to stay mad for too long as something as harmless as that. 

Lance slid into his seat, pointedly positioned right next to Keith’s, something that Hunk had recently noticed- but unsure of how long that had been happening for. 

Keith took one look at Lance, and then turned back to his food, sifting through it with his fork, as if he was meaning to eat, but didn’t put two and two together on how to lift it up to his mouth. 

“Uhm- thanks Keith…” Lance said, turning to the paladin. “I know I was… difficult to handle. It means a lot that you were there.” 

Well would wonders ever cease. Lance, saying thank you to Keith Kogane. Hunk was blown away. 

“It was nothing- I mean- Of course it was something! You’re really something- but what I’m trying to say was that it didn’t bother me.” Hunk could practically see the sweat beading down Keith’s forehead. It was just as well; his momma had always told him, that if your crush wasn’t nervous when you talked to them at first, they weren’t worth being your crush. 

They continued dinner mostly uneventful, Allura talking about some natural disaster recovery missions that were to be fitted into the schedule. “It is imperative that the universe knows that Voltron is their defender when they need it most. These missions will gain the trust of many planets.” 

“Like you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours?” Lance chimed in.

Allura made a face. “There will be no scratching of backs. That’s… unsanitary.” 

“It’s an earth metaphor.” Pidge explained. “It means if we help them when they need it, they’ll help us when we need it.” 

“Ah, then I suppose we will all... scratch each other’s backs…” Allura sighed trying to go to the next subject as to never have that imagery again, “Anyways, our first mission will be in Unitch. They’ve been experiencing some large tectonic shifts on their planet’s surface, and need teams to go out into the rubble of their affected cities and search for survivors. We’re close by, so it’s our first mission for the day- and possibly only if we don’t get any more distress calls.” 

Shiro nodded, “Alright, sounds like a plan. Keith- after breakfast can I talk to you in private?”

“Yeah, sure.” 

When they had finished, Hunk was left to clean up everyone’s plates… one of these days he’d set up a chore chart so he wasn’t left with it all the time. He washed each dish, putting it away. 

Pidge tapped Hunk’s back, nearly making him drop the last plate. He caught it, putting it away quickly. “Pidge! What wer-”

Pidge clapped her hand over Hunk’s mouth. “Shhhh! I wanna show you something-” she whispered. “But you can’t tell anyone.” 

Hunk nodded, setting his towel down, and let Pidge lead him down the halls, winding through different passages til she led him to a large heating grate. “This connects to every corner of the castle.” she explained. “It’s good for two things: one, a little getaway from social interaction, and two, a perfect means of eavesdropping.” 

“Pidge! I’m not gonna eavesdrop on anybody!” Hunk exclaimed. He wasn’t that kind of person, he just wasn’t. “How long have you been doing this?” he asked. 

“A couple phoebs…” Pidge muttered. “It didn’t start with eavesdropping, I swear! I was just trying to fix the thermal readings in the castle, and I thought it was really comfy sitting there… Then I’d hear castle drama going on, and curiosity got the best of me.” 

“This is wrong-” 

“Come on, you can’t tell me you’re not even wondering the tiniest bit what Shiro’s telling Keith?” Pidge said.

Hunk sighed, crawling into the vent. He was doing this for Lance, he was doing this for- Oh who was he kidding, he was a nosy scumbag that was way too invested in the goings on of his teammates. Pidge laughed, crawling in behind him. “Now remember, our voices are really echoey in here, so once we get to the hallway they’re in, we have to be almost completely silent.” 

Hunk was able to get to the vent that was in Shiro’s room, where he was catching the tail end of Keith and Shiro’s conversation. Keith was crossing his arm, making a disgruntled face, “I still don’t see what your problem is. I like Lance, and he likes me, that’s all the information you need.” Keith said to Shiro, staring down the paladin like a defiant child. 

“Keith, if you’re going to lead Voltron-” 

“Which I’m not.” 

“ _When_ you’re going to lead Voltron, you have to have trust with your teammates. I don’t want childish crushes and break ups to come between that.” Shiro lectured Keith. 

Hunk watched the two of them, already rooting for Keith. His friends were in love, maybe they deserved a little childishness now and then. 

Keith stared at Shiro wide eyed, “You think we’d break up?!” he exclaimed, offended by Shiro’s remark. “I don’t even know if he likes me! I just want to find out!” 

“And suppose he doesn’t. This isn’t high school where you can avoid him for a month til things get less weird and you move on with your lives. I’ll expect you two to work together regardless of what you’re feeling towards each other.” Hunk tried to keep his sighs to a count of zero, but what Shiro had said definitely held merit. Of course, Keith had no idea how Lance felt. “Look. I want you to be happy, and in any other situation I’d say go for it. This just isn’t one of those times.”

Hunk looked back at Pidge and they both shared a saddened look. Pidge motioned their retreat, and Hunk followed. When they got back to the vent opening, Pidge huffed, stomping out. 

“It’s not fair!” Pidge complained, kicking the floor. “We can love whoever, and be adults about it!” Though she sounded like a small toddler having a temper tantrum, not exactly proving her point. “Shiro’s just being pissy about this whole thing.” 

“He does have a point.” Hunk said. “We’re young… long term relationships aren’t exactly common for our age.” 

Pidge snorted, “Well look who’s woke over here.” She teased, “What’re you scared of? Afraid you’ll fall for me?” 

How was Pidge able to say something like that? Hunk had no idea… It was best to just skim it over, as that another silly crush would only make things worse. “Yeah right, as if.” He said, trying to roll his eyes. There was a small pause, both of them looking at each other, small smiles hanging on their faces, and neither of them knew if the other was genuine. 

“Well, uhm, I gotta go make a map of seismic activity on that new planet we’re helping.” Pidge finally said, scratching the back of her head. “You don’t mind if I tap into Yellow’s system to get his readings, do ya?” 

“I can help. If anyone knows Yellow’s mainframe it's me.” Hunk said. A lot of people forgot that Hunk was good for anything besides cooking and baking, but Hunk genuinely loved engineering puzzles, and was nice to have a partner in sorting out technology problems. 

Pidge looked at Hunk, almost surprised that Hunk had offered. “Yeah, totally!” She replied cheerfully. 

When they got to the hangars, Pidge pulled out her computer from its charging station, and took out some wires to connect it to yellow. “I don’t know why Yellow has the best reception for seismic readings, but this guy can map out a whole planet.” Pidge said, patting Yellow’s claw. 

“Maybe it has to do with each lion’s connection to the elements.” Hunk hypothesized. “Yellow’s element is earth, so he sees it the best.” 

“I think you mean rock. Earth is a planet, not an element.” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses for effect. 

Hunk only shrugged, getting to work with the coding. They worked for a while in peace, just getting the sonars set up. They even made jokes about different aspects of their work, geeking out over their equipment, and sharing frustration when things wouldn’t load quick enough. Yeah, Hunk could do this forever, being in PIdge’s company. 

Unfortunately, Lance had other plans, coming into the room, sulking. He sighed loudly, draping himself over Hunk’s computer. “What is it now Lance?” Hunk asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know what to do! Keith’s just roaming free, a hot alpha who won’t even talk to me after basically flirting with me my entire heat!” He complained. 

“Oh was he now?” Pidge scoffed, going back to her computations.

Lance looked up sighing before flopping down again onto Hunk’s keyboard. “Maybe you’re right- quiznacking… I just need to get rid of this crush!” 

Hunk snorted. “Have you tried talking to him?” he asked, amused by Lance’s antics. 

“I uh… no… but isn’t the alpha supposed to do the courting?” Lance asked. 

“Well he’s not gonna know if he has a chance till you tell him.” Hunk reminded Lance. “Sometimes… the people that are the ones who are traditionally supposed to make a move are scared. Scared of being rejected I mean.” He looked at Pidge. He wasn’t sure if anyone would pick up that he was hinting at his crush on Pidge, but ah well, it’s life. “It's not always that someone doesn’t want a relationship you know.” 

Hunk hoped that at the very least, Lance would understand what he was trying to say. After all, Keith seemed to be scared enough by Shiro. 

Or maybe not. Hunk could see that when right before the mission, Keith handed Lance the gun that he had gotten specifically for him. 

“What’s this?” Lance asked, holding the rifle with both his hands. For all that Hunk worried about Keith having poor judgement, Lance looked genuinely fascinated by the weapon.

Keith blushed, holding the back of his neck with his hand, looking away for a couple seconds. “A… a courting gift. I want you to be my boyfriend.” 

Lance nearly dropped the gun. “Dude- are you serious?!” he asked, looking up at Keith. 

“Well uh-” 

“Yes! A million times yes!” Lance exclaimed, hugging Keith. Keith was frozen for a couple seconds, before giving a little smile, and awkwardly wrapped his arms around Lance. 

Hunk was happy for his two friends. He wasn’t sure if it would stop their bickering, but hey, at least they weren’t hiding their feelings for each other in a frustrating tango of emotions. 

Pidge nudged Hunk’s side. “Hey, look at idiot one, and idiot two getting together.” she teased. “I guess love does triumph over everything.” 

“I guess it does.” Hunk said with a smile, then looked down at Pidge. Her eyes grew wide, and then evaded eye contact, as if she had been caught doing something. She was so adorable sometimes. 

They were about to head into their lions, when Hunk noticed that both Lance and Keith were headed towards Red. “Uhm Keith, you have Black now.” Lance said to his newly dubbed boyfriend. 

“Oh… Yeah, okay.” Keith muttered heading into the black lion. Hunk frowned. He knew that Keith didn’t want to lead. The only reason Keith was probably even listening was because he didn’t want to kick Lance out of his lion. 

The mission actually was pretty easy as missions go. It was like one giant where’s waldo, except waldo was the aliens, and the pictures were lots of broken city rubble. There was no real fighting, or obstacles to encounter, save for a couple of times where they had to dig people out of odd places. Sometimes they were too late…

Nevertheless, the team did what they could to save as many people as they could. The dead ones were put on stretchers for burials, and the barely alive ones were whisked away for medical examination. Some families were even reunited, much to the relief of everyone. 

Lance was quick to help calm the children, telling them stories of what it’s like to be a paladin of Voltron. It must’ve been like talking to his nieces and nephews all over again. It was no secret that Lance loved his family, and those small moments spoke volumes on what Lance was good at, as well as what he had learned growing up. 

Keith leaned on a post in the corner, listening to what Lance was telling the children. He was grinning, and who wouldn’t be when your crush was interacting with kids like that? One particular little girl was hanging off of Keith’s arm, and he seemed perfectly at ease. 

“Can you believe it? Lance and Keith.” Allura said, standing alongside Hunk. “It started out as an unlikely idea, and then they sort of just… came together.” 

Hunk chuckled. “Nah, Lance has had it bad for Keith ever since we first came to space. It just took awhile for him to catch up on his feelings. As for Keith… You’d have to ask Shiro for that story.” 

“Oh yeah?” Shiro said, walking up behind them, making Hunk a bit jumpy from that sudden chime in. “Keith told me everyday about this annoyingly handsome ‘Taylor’ from his class. Took me less than five quintants for me to realize that he was talking about ‘the tailor’, as Lance puts it.” 

Hunk’s mouth dropped open. “That’s why Keith was confused when Lance said his name!” Wow. Will wonders never cease. “When are you going to tell them?” 

Shiro sighed. “I don’t know. Frankly, I’m not sure if they’ll last. I warned Keith but… You know how he is.” 

Hunk understood that. Keith was definitely the kind of person to disregard advice, he should’ve seen it coming. 

They’d just have to wait and see. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Repeat after me:  
> Just because Shiro doesn't approve doesn't mean he's a clone  
> Just because Shiro doesn't approve doesn't mean he's a clone  
> Just because Shiro doesn't approve doesn't mean he's a clone


	4. To Bond or Not to Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk wishes that he hadn't spoken so soon, and Keith and Lance navigate what it means to be together.

Phoeb six and Keith and Lance were still an item. No one but Hunk truly understood what a fucking miracle that was. He’d listen for hours, Lance rambling on about how it was absolute bullshit about something that he held against Keith, and then subsequently make up by the end of the day- make out, if anyone were to go into specifics. 

They weren’t shy about PDA, in fact, Hunk was beginning to suspect that they sorta had a kink for seeing how far they could go without anyone noticing. Hunk had seen it all, from simple holding of hands, to one of them palming at the other’s crotch from under the table. The latter had made Shiro’s eyes bug out, and then made him awkwardly leave the room.

“What’s his problem?” Lance had said, trying to pretend they hadn’t done that unspeakable act. 

Hunk deadpanned, while Pidge was laughing her head off. “Seriously guys, get a room.” 

Keith’s face went pale. “So you saw-” 

“Yep.” 

They didn’t go that far in public anymore- to Hunk’s knowledge at least. Either they chickened out, or they got really good at hiding it. Given Keith’s lack of subtlety, Hunk chose to believe that they had chickened out, for his own sanity of course. Lance still hung out with Hunk alone, and that was nice. A lot of people tend to toss their friends to the side when they dated, but Lance wasn’t that type of guy. 

Lance bounced a rubber ball at the wall and caught it, repeating the process as a form of fidgeting. “Do you think this whole paladin thing is going to last the rest of our lives?” he asked, catching the rubber ball once more. 

Hunk shrugged, his eyes darting back and forth at the movement, as well as Lance’s thoughtful face. “I dunno… It could, after all, the universe always needs saving, one way or another.” 

“Yeah, I can see that happening…” Lance mumbled, setting the rubber ball down, as if he was no longer having any fun with it. “What if one of us wants to settle down? You know, have a family?” 

Hunk’s eyes flicked up to Lance’s face in surprise. “You don’t mean-”

“Relax man, I’m not pregnant.” Lance said with a small laugh. “But I’m just saying, what if one day, like in the future, I wanted to be?” 

“Well, I’m sure Allura’s a reasonable person… Maybe when peace is officially established, you’ll have your chance.” Hunk said, though he was a little worried. Usually after dating lasted that long, in their culture, it wasn’t too much of a leap to get on that family bandwagon. It wasn’t like they were exactly children either, Keith being nineteen and Lance eighteen, still young, but then again not too young. “Maybe you could talk with Keith about mating, that’d be a step towards a family?” 

And would satisfy their instincts for the time being… 

Lance’s tan skin was subsequently dusted with a redness from his embarrassment, thinking over the idea. “Well we have been together for six months-ish…” he mused. “I’m just not sure Keith is ready for that. I don’t want to scare him off, you know?”

Hunk nodded. He could understand Lance’s concern. Keith seemed happy enough as Lance’s boyfriend, and as much as Keith was ready biologically, sometimes, at his worst, Keith had the emotional capacity of a two year old. Keith was a direct person, and something in Hunk told him that if Keith had even considered the idea of mating, Lance would be proudly sporting Keith’s bonding mark at this very moment. 

_This is convenient._ Hunk thought to himself, as he saw Keith walk into the room. Keith kissed Lance’s cheek, making him laugh, as Keith sat down next to Lance. Keith didn’t say anything, just leaning into Lance. 

“What’s up babe?” Lance asked Keith, who hadn’t spoken a word. “Galra got your tongue?” 

“Close enough.” Keith responded curtly. “I am going to kill Lotor.”

Lance sighed, wrapping his arm around Keith. “Is he questioning your leadership again? Bastard…” he muttered the last part. 

Hunk looked between the two. It was no secret the pair were at odds with the half-altean man. Lotor had killed Zarkon, creating a bond of trust between him and Voltron, but there was still general after general that would come to question Lotor’s power. Voltron was helping Lotor, so that the empire would fall in line with being a peaceful nation, but that didn’t mean they had to like it. 

Keith was the one who mistrusted Lotor the most. When coming back from the quantum abyss, he had been convinced that Lotor was a genocidal maniac. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how one looked at it, Lotor was able to prove that the Alteans weren’t dying at his hands, but rather, a disease that caused rapid deterioration of health. Not wanting to scare the alteans, who had become rather reliant on the idea of peace, he had them secretly quarantined if scans showed that they were displaying symptoms. Coming clean to the alteans was hard, but now many had chosen to reenter new societies, as well as be allies to voltron. 

Still, Keith was often fighting Lotor, especially on the topic of quintessence. Lotor had it in his head that finding sources of quintessence would quell any more rebellions, by giving the people what they had wanted when overtaking lands. Keith on the other hand, wanted to pay attention to defending the throne, and soon enough, everyone would learn to fall in line.

“It’s that quintessence stuff again.” Keith said, taking all his nervous energy, and putting it into scenting Lance. “There’s just something that doesn’t sit well with me about that. The Empire was so crazy about it, and now Lotor is too? No, we can’t just do that.” 

Lance cooed at Keith’s affection, playing with his thick black hair. “Relax mullet, he’s just one douche we have to deal with.” 

“I always dealt with douches through fistfights…” Keith lamented. “And obviously I can’t fistfight him.” 

“You better not.” Lance agreed, though it sounded like a pretty sincere warning. “Can’t have our fearless leader flying off the handle- no matter how easy it is to.”

Hunk sighed. He didn’t really have a side that he leaned more to, but Keith and Lance were his teammates, so he knew he had to be there for them. He honestly didn’t understand the whole quintessence debate too well, but what he gathered was that it was a life force of sorts that every type of consciousness apparently had. It could be used as a power source, and there was a dimension that voltron could open up to gain more. It was risky, but if they had an unlimited supply, it would stop Galran communities from wanting to take over new planets and drain their life forces. 

That of course, was the surface level of the argument. Allura and Lotor knew much more, and were adamant about using Voltron as a means to their plan. The only thing stopping them was a third of the paladins, which were Keith and Lance. It might’ve been different if it was only one of them, because they could do another lion swap, but without Keith /and/ Lance, there was really no way to do any of this. 

“Maybe you can do a test run?” Hunk suggested. “Do a small extraction, and then see the effects.” 

Keith pursed his lips, thinking it over. “I don’t know… Coran told me what had happened to Zarkon. I don’t want to have anything possibly compromising my judgement.” 

They talked for a little while on the topic of quintessence, though it seemed to just take them in circles. It was just hard to make any solid arguments with the limited knowledge they possessed. Eventually, it just led them to sitting in silence, not knowing what to say. Hunk ended up closing his eyes, but peeking a little bit every now and then in case he was missing something.

Lance sighed, nuzzling into Keith’s chest. “Babe… would you ever want to mate?” He asked, probably thinking that Hunk was out for the count. 

Keith huffed, not really looking at Lance. “Why would we do that?” 

“What do you mean?” Lance asked, perplexed by Keith’s reasoning. 

“Bonding is just for people that are about to go away, and want to make sure their partner doesn’t want to get with anyone else. It’s stupid, and likely to make life worse if they never meet again.” Keith said. 

Lance frowned, not liking Keith’s answer. “But I want to be with you forever. I… I want a family with you.” 

Keith shrugged. “Yeah, me too, but bonding is stupid” 

“What do you mean stupid?!” Lance exclaimed. “What the hell man! That’s just…” 

Keith deadpanned, “Let me guess: That’s not how it’s done. Screw how things are done. Mating always leads to heart aches and even abuse.”

Lance looked away, scooting away from Keith. “Is that really how you think we’ll end up?” 

Keith opened his mouth, but shut it again. He sighed, unsure of what to say.

“Keith. I love you, I really do.” Lance said, standing up, and brushing himself off. “But I want to know you actually want to stick around. I want the whole family deal, kids _and_ a mate. I don’t want to be one of those pissy omegas giving their alphas an ultimatum, but I want to know it’s going to happen sometime.” He walked out of the room, leaving Keith with his own thoughts. 

Hunk took a couple seconds to make things seem more believable, then ‘woke up’ by out stretching his arms and yawning. “What’d I miss?” He asked, being the biggest liar that he knew at that moment. 

Keith groaned, hanging his head in between his legs. “I got into a fight with Lance… Not one of our small ones, this is big.” 

Hunk nodded, understanding more than Keith knew he did. Normally Hunk would’ve shrugged it off as just Lance and Keith being Lance and Keith, but after hearing what had gone down, yeah, it was definitely big. “Well, what was it about?” He asked. 

Keith took a long pause, conflicted with his choice of wording. “Lance wants to bond, and I think that bonding only leads to trouble.”

“I’m… I’m sorry.” Hunk said, going over and patting Keith’s back. “Lance had asked me about that, and I had said to go for it. I wasn’t thinking about what you’d think.” 

“It’s not that I don’t want a life with him… I’m just scared. My mom and dad mated, and then when my mom left, my dad was so lonely. He got into trouble, thinking he could save other families, and then… well then he died.” Keith confessed. “I’m thinking of joining the blade of Marmora for a couple missions. If I don’t come back, I don’t want to leave Lance with a bond that’ll last his whole life.” 

Hunk pursed his lips, already guilt ridden that he had stirred up the pot about this. “Keith, you’re going to have to make a choice. Lance was pretty upset the last time you left. Leaving now, after all this went down… do you honestly think that’s a good idea?” 

Keith stayed silent for a hot second, thinking it over. “I don’t know.” he finally responded. 

“Really? Because I think you do, you just don’t want to say it.” Hunk was perceptive, he knew that, and he also knew that Keith was just as oblivious as Lance, even more so on several occasions. “Look, I don’t want you to bond with Lance out of guilt, but I don’t want you to not bond with Lance out of fear. You have a choice, and I suggest you take some time to think it over.” 

“Alright, I will.” Keith said with a nod. Hunk could only hope that this would help. He couldn’t say that he /liked/ being the relationship counselor on the ship, but his friends were important to him, so he’d do what he could. He watched Keith leave, probably to go train, which is what Keith would do whenever he was faced with any big emotional problem. Hunk could understand that, after all, everyone had ways to cope with life. 

It was out of Hunk’s hands now, he could only hope for the best. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo whoo! Another chapter done! I might do a chapter with no Hunk involved, but I'm on the fence about it, given that the theme of this fanfiction is Hunk's perspective. I'd like to hear your thoughts, because if Hunk's not involved, it will almost certainly involve a sex scene 'cause I'm nasty lol. Anyways, see ya later!


	5. Everything Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of things happen that will change Keith and Lance's lives forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: this is now an EXPLICIT fanfic, with a SEX SCENE. To Anom in the comments: your're welcome.
> 
> I wrote this chapter without Hunk for the most part, because I really don't think that Hunk would spy on his friends while they were getting their freak on for multiple reasons. I will be going back to Hunk's perspective next chapter, and if you just want to skip this, I will give a less explicit summary in the end notes.

Lance tried to avoid Keith, he really did. Unfortunately, the more he stayed away, the more he yearned to be in that stupid alpha’s arms. He eventually found his way to Keith’s room, and curled up on Keith’s bed, not knowing when he would be back, but not caring if he was caught or not. He just needed to collect himself in Keith’s scent, regardless of how upset he was at Keith. 

Keith eventually stepped into his room, all sweaty and breathless. “Hey.” he said, and Lance was unsure if the redness in his usually pale face was from exercise or from Lance’s presence. 

“Hey yourself.” Lance responded, snuggling deeper into the Keith smelling sheets, to where just his eyes and above were poking out. “Have you done some thinking training?” 

Keith quirked an eyebrow. “Thinking training?” He asked, confused as to what Lance meant. 

The covers moved in such a way that it could be said that Lance shrugged, but Keith wasn’t entirely sure. “Even Allura knows that when you have some deep problem on your mind, you try to punch and slice it out of you with training, then you come back with some even deeper revelation.” Lance explained, a little amused that Keith hadn’t picked that up himself. “So yeah, thinking training.” 

“Oh. Then yeah, I have.” Keith said, sitting down on the side of the bed. “I’ve just been… scared. And I didn’t want to scare you, so I just kept everything bottled up.”

“Ah, yes, typical Keith move.” Lance nodded wisely, even if it was just in jest. 

Keith snorted, “Yeah, typical _Lance_ move as well. Anyways, that’s besides the point.” he sighed, trying to collect himself again before he spoke. “I’ve been thinking about going back to the blade for a couple missions. I really like it there, and they like me, but… I don’t want to leave you waiting for me, it wouldn’t be fair.” 

Lance sat up, realizing that this was going to be a serious talk. “Keith. Even if you didn’t mark me, I’d still wait for you. You’re never going to force me to do that, because I _want_ to do that.” 

“Then you’re stupid, like my dad.” Keith said, his voice pitching a bit when he mentioned his father, as he struggled not to cry. 

Lance didn’t even need any more of a response, just knowing that he had to hug his boyfriend. He knew the story, fragments of a story at least, involving Keith’s mother leaving to the blade of Marmora, and his father dying after a period of time that was still unknown to Lance. “It’s not stupid Keith. It’s love. Even if it doesn’t work out the way it was supposed to.” 

Keith broke from the hug first, just having to take a good look at Lance’s face, memorize it in every way possible. “I’m going to miss you so much.” 

“Then let’s make now count. Please bond me. I want to be yours.” Lance pleaded with Keith, and Keith knew exactly what to do.

The clothes were the first thing that left them. Too constricting, not enough room to roam each other’s bodies in ways that were definately of sexual origin. Lance sucked hickeys on Keith’s neck, showing exactly what was on his mind. 

Keith chuckled, moving his mouth to Lance’s neck as well, giving a taunting nip, which made Lance suck in a deep breath of air. “If you’re gonna bite, just do it coward.” he complained, whimpering a bit as Keith pushed Lance to bed. 

“Yeah, I would, but seeing you squirm is so much fun.” Keith said with a smirk that could’ve only been learned from Lance himself. Dammit, the two of them were really rubbing off on each other. 

Speaking of rubbing off…

Keith closed his eyes, practically moaning when Lance touched his dick. “You play a dirty game McClain.” he said shortly thereafter. 

Lance tried to huff, but it turned into a bit of a giggle. “Like there’s any other way to play with the likes of us. You’re just so-hah!” Lance squirmed as Keith’s fingers up his ass surprised him. Dear lord, his walls were tight, so unfortunately unused, and stimulated enough that Lance could feel his heartbeat down there. “Be… be fucking… fuck- careful down there.” he cursed, trying to get used to the stretching that Keith was doing down there. Despite how horny the two of them were, they had only gone “all the way” like… Three times? Technically two, because Lance started crying the first time, when Keith hadn’t prepped before shoving his penis in, so they hadn’t gotten to the finality of it all. 

Still, those two times had proven that they were sexually compatible, and all the other times that they had found other ways to do so. They really hadn’t tried penetration earlier for a number of reasons, including Shiro’s dumb, but accurate safe sex talk. Fortunately, Lance had found condoms at the space mall, so after that they were more comfortable about sexual encounters. 

But back to the present, where Lance would lovingly say that Keith was “making me his bitch”. Said bitch moaned, god, so much moaning, as Keith stretched him out. But was that the end? Oh no no no! Lance mewled at la pièce de résistance: Keith’s fat ass dick. 

Or to be more specific, Keith’s fat dick was up his ass. 

For those that were wondering, yes, there was a condom involved, they weren’t stupid. Even in their excitement, certain things had to be remembered. 

“Oh god- fuck yesss” Lance babbled, as Keith thrusted in, Keith being mostly silent, with a couple of grunts here and there. Keith was mostly letting Lance do all the talking here, which was fine by him. It made him less pressured to make him say anything. Meanwhile, Lance was just having a grand ol’ time, the way that he was being fucked. Missionary, but they could spice it up another time. For now, this is what they needed. 

Keith barely managed to slip in, “I’m going to cum.” between Lance’s murmurings. 

“Fuck yeah, cum in me baby, I’m ready to be marked.” 

And came he did, actually biting him. Lance’s body went rigid, and he let out the loudest moan that he could muster, not that it was hard by any means. He spilled out semen and babbles, pure ecstasy overtaking him. Keith’s knot formed, locking them together, and the alpha slumped back, exhausted from the whole ordeal. 

Inside, Lance felt sloshy, like he was filled up with cum that Keith had put there. Alphas usually came excessively, along with the expanded knot, so Lance wasn’t surprised to have a little bulge in him from that. He closed his eyes, putting his hand on his stomach. “That was amazing.” he mumbled, as Keith started to lick up the blood pooling from his neck. It stung a little, but the pleasure outweighed the pain. 

“Yeah, I get what you mean.” Keith said, starting to help Lance change their positions so that they were both lying on their sides. It was just more comfortable that way. He closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Lance. The knot would go down eventually, he figured he just had to sleep it off. 

Lance was familiar with Keith falling asleep shortly after climaxing, and he let him, deciding that this was probably the best way for him to get unknotted. Lance stayed awake however, just enjoying Keith’s cuddles. The simple rise and fall of Keith’s chest was relaxing, but it took a lot to get Lance to fall asleep at any given time. 

Time passed, and Lance felt the trickle of semen slipping down his leg. How odd… Keith’s knot had gone down, so Lance decided to carefully slip off Keith’s dick, only to find shreds of plastic loosely hanging on Keith’s now limp member. Lance nearly choked on his own spit, his eyes growing wide. He put on Keith’s robe, took off what was left of the condom, and went to the bathroom, wrapping it in toilet paper, and throwing it away. Thank god that Keith was a heavy sleeper, because Lance didn’t know if he could handle Keith freaking out alongside him. 

Lance decided to shower, wanting to get the filth that was all over him off. This was supposed to be a satisfying moment, but now he was just scared. Okay, okay, this was fine. This kind of thing didn’t always lead to a baby. Lance put his hand on his belly, reminded of when he had done that just hours ago. When he had first done that, it was out of pleasure, feeling so full and fulfilled. Now, it was a different kind of full, that weighed down on him, sinking him to the floor. He sat down in the tub, letting the shower water hit at him, as he felt full, but also empty. 

Keith sat up from his bed, noticing that his mate was no longer in it.

His mate. That brought a smile to his face. However, there was something nagging at him, this new feeling. There was this sadness flooding him, that he had never experienced before. He heard the shower running in the bathroom next door, where his bathroom was. Keith looked for his robe, finding that it was missing, but decided to wrap himself in an old towel, and go into the bathroom. Luckily, it was unlocked. 

Keith could smell Lance in there, and feel the sadness through the bond. He sat down on the toilet with the lid still on. “Lance? What’s wrong?” He asked.

Lance stood up, poking his head out of the shower curtain. “Oh… uhm… I’m sorry, I just kind of realized…” He trailed off, wondering if he should tell the truth. “I’m bonded now, out here in the middle of space, and my family won’t ever know.” That was true, but not the right kind of true. “I can’t have a wedding, not the kind that has all the people that were- are, are still important to me.” 

“I’m sorry, maybe we should’ve talked this through more…” 

“No, I made my choice. I just didn’t think it would hit me so hard.” Lance fibbed. “Anyways, there’s more good than bad. I’ll get over myself. Can you pass me a towel?” He asked, and Keith found a clean towel to hand over to Lance. 

Once Keith passed over the towel, Lance turned off the water, and stepped out. 

“I’m going to shower too.” Keith said, changing places with Lance. He was sticky all down there, semen coating his dick. Lance must’ve taken off the condom for him, which was nice, because he never liked handling those things. 

“Be my guest.” Lance responded, drying himself off with his towel. His heart was racing, still nervous about the whole ordeal. 

Keith could tell something was wrong, but he figured it was still the whole not being on earth thing that was still weighing Lance down. It was weird, like he could feel fragments of what Lance was feeling. It must’ve been the bond.

When they were both showered, they made it back to Keith’s room, which was ever so slowly becoming their room, just from how frequently Lance used it as well.

Lance laid down, trying not to think about the possibility of babies, or being pregnant in general. He kept his hands away from his belly, and laid on his side, watching Keith get dressed.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get changed?” Keith asked, slipping on his tight black shirt. He had had it for so long, ever since he had first gotten shot up into space. Keith wouldn’t consider himself sentimental about it, but he wasn’t about to ask for new clothes either. 

Lance hummed, distracting himself with Keith’s tight shirt, but then looked up at Keith’s face. “I dunno, I kinda like this robe, it smells like you.” 

Unfortunately, that moment was not meant to be, as the sirens in the castle went off. Lance cringed, running to the armory to put on his suit and bayard. Keith ran alongside him, as was the drill. All the paladins met up there, rushing, and then met up at the control room. It was significantly faster than their first time, but Allura still was frowning as she looked at her stopwatch. “Alright. That wasn’t _terrible_ , but we can do better. 

It was just a test, as were most of the sirens that went off, but they knew what was doing was important, so no one complained too much anymore. Allura led them all to training, which was something that they had to do often. It was then that Keith and Lance announced their bonding, Lance presenting his marked neck with pride, by rolling down the suit neck piece.

“Wow, it looks like someone mauled you.” Pidge snorted, to which Hunk elbowed her, even if he himself was chuckling a bit at the comment. 

“I was caught up in the moment…” Keith muttered, his cheeks turning red. He hadn’t meant for the mark to look so haphazard, it had just sort of happened. 

Lance cleared his throat, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Well anyways, it was for a purpose. Keith and I decided to bond before he went away for a bit with the blade.” He said, deciding to rip the metaphorical band-aid right off. 

“You’re leaving again?” Hunk asked with a frown. 

“Yeah, I guess I am.” Keith said, scratching the back of his head. “But this time, I’ll stay in touch. Lots of video calling, and letters, all of that. You all are my family.” 

They all did a group hug, Lance tearing up a little. “You better stay in touch, you emo samurai. I can’t live without you.” 

Keith chuckled. “Of course I will.” 

Things would change, but Lance had confidence that it would all work out in the end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TLDR; Klance mating bonds, condom breaks but Keith doesn't know, and he announces that he's going off to a mission with the blades. 
> 
> Anyways, as you can tell, I have no updating schedule, just an adhd brain that does what it pleases. I try to do at least 2,000 words per chapter, and when I have that, I update. Ya'll fuckers are lucky that I have homework I'm procrastinating on lol.


	6. Punk Rocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little drama, a little fluff, stir it up, and I hope its enough.

The first couple months that followed Keith’s departure went about as well as one could expect. Hunk didn’t need to be Lance’s best friend to know that he was in a mood. Lance was usually a flamboyant person, but now? He was just quieter. Even though it was clear Lance was trying to keep up appearances, there was no heart to his jokes. It was hard to explain, but Lance always seemed amused at his own goofy actions, but now… no, this wasn’t the Lance that Hunk knew. 

Hunk finally decided to check in on Lance, who had taken up camp in Keith’s room. Everyone saw him go in and out, and mostly assumed that it was just because he missed Keith that he was in there. 

“Lance?” Hunk asked, knocking on the door to Keith’s room. He heard a shuffling, and then a door parting slightly to the side, as Lance poked his head out. 

Lance was blushing, even though he had a tan face, making Hunk wonder what exactly Lance was doing. “Uhm hi… Need me for something?” He asked, giving a kind of smile that looked rather worn. 

Hunk grimaced, shaking his head, “No, I was just checking in on you. Want to play video games or something?” 

“Uhm… yeah sure, sounds like a plan.” Lance said, sliding out the door. Hunk managed to see a nest, sitting atop Keith’s bed, which was a bit surprising to say the least. 

There were only a few reasons why omegas made nests. Heat was one of them, then baby prep, and lastly when they were depressed or fearful. Hunk was leaning towards the last, because of how anxious Lance looked. “You’re nesting?” Hunk asked, frowning at the observation. 

Lance paused, his scent getting stronger, and more sour. “Y-yeah. It’s nothing, just ah, nerves…” He said, waving his hand as if that would clarify everything. 

“Lance.” Hunk said, putting his hand on the omega’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Keith’s scheduled to contact us tonight. Can you wait until tonight?” 

A simple nod came from Lance, as he let out a shaky breath of air. “You’re right. It’s just hard.” 

After that, Hunk managed to get Lance distracted with Mario Kart, so that helped a lot with Lance’s mood, even if it was only a temporary fix. Lance was definitely a cheater when it came to the game, but Hunk didn’t even mind, because it meant that he was happy. 

However, everything changed when Hunk noted that it was almost time to contact Keith. Lance looked like a deer in headlights when he turned over to Hunk. 

“I thought you’d be happy to see Keith.” Hunk commented, a little confused as to why Lance was acting this way. 

Lance sighed, slumping his shoulders forward. “I… I’m nervous. I don’t want Keith to feel bad or anything, and come back because of that. He deserves to have his moment to shine, do his own thing, and I know I could accidentally hold him back.” 

Hunk chuckled, finding Lance’s reasoning a bit funny, “Relax man, he’s probably having a tough time too. You don’t have to be fake with him, I doubt he’d leave the blade just because you’re honest, as long as you don’t expect anything out of him.”

“It’s not-” Lance started, before biting back his words and sighing, “You’re right. I can tell him I miss him and he wouldn’t freak.” 

“Why would he?” 

Lance pursed his lips. “I don’t know.” 

Hunk was there when the call began, everyone was, and Lance tapped his fingers against his leg in anticipation. Keith was on the call, smiling wide when the video first connected, his hair a bit wild, like he had just recently pulled off his blade uniform hood. “Hi.” he said simply, waving at the group. 

“Hey yourself hot shot.” Lance said, fiddling a bit with the bottom of his shirt, like he was trying to smooth out some wrinkles or something. “We miss you- I miss you.” 

“Yeah, I miss you too. It’s just four phoebs more, but I’ve been counting down the days- or I guess quintants.” Keith said, gazing fondly at Lance, before directing himself to the group once more. “How has everyone been doing on team voltron?”

Shiro was the first to speak up to respond, “Smooth sailing for the most part. A couple real missions, but mostly diplomatic meetings.” 

Keith nodded, and Hunk held back a laugh. Everyone knew that Keith hated diplomacy as a concept and most certainly in practice. It was probably a blessing to Keith that he was skipping all of that. 

Hunk looked over at Lance who seemed to be gagging a little for some unexplained reason. Lance rushed out of the room, leaving everyone there confused. “I’ll make sure he’s okay.” Hunk said, deciding to follow after Lance.

Eventually, Hunk found Lance hunched over a toilet with the foul stench of vomit coating the air. “Quiznack, Lance, are you sick?” He asked, leaning down and patting Lance’s back. 

“No, I just got nervous.” Lance said, his voice echoing in the toilet bowl. 

“This isn’t like you man.” It definitely wasn't, making Hunk a lot more than just concerned for his friend. 

Lance hacked again, some chunks spilling out from his mouth. “Well maybe it is now. I’m not some piece of machinery that has to perform the same tasks the same way forever.” 

“I never said you were.” 

Hunk cocked his head to the side, his brows furrowing. Maybe he shouldn’t’ve pressed on about it. Lance was not in a good place right now, that was clear. “Do you want to go in a healing pod?”

“No! I- I mean, no… not right now. It’s just emotional problems. I don’t like those things… It… it makes me feel claustrophobic, being put in those pods.” Lance explained. 

Hunk didn’t quite understand why Lance was acting like this. There seemed to be excuses galore for why Lance was being strange, and for some reason Hunk only half believed it. 

Lance was able to stop throwing up and catch the last half of the call. Lance waved it off, repeating his excuse, and carefully avoiding the fact that he literally vomited, which was all said in such a shaky voice that even Keith looked concerned, which was a new development in Keith’s typically oblivious nature. However, Keith seemed to shake it off, which was unfortunate. 

When the call ended, Lance was quick to rush out of the room. Pidge looked over at Hunk, raising an eyebrow. That’s all she had to do for Hunk to know what she was questioning about. “He went to go puke. I don’t know what to do anymore. I want to talk this out with him, but it keeps seeming like he’s lying- or at least not telling the whole truth.” 

Pidge hummed, squinting, as if it would help her see the solution better. “He is a good liar. Remember when he tricked Mrs. Fangon into thinking he didn’t know any english? I mean, it served her right because she was racist, but yeah, back to the point, he’s a very good liar.” 

“I think it’s because he tells half truths.” Shiro observed. “He says something that he does believe, but then evades the truth that he doesn’t want to say.” 

“Well regardless, he needs to fess up, or he’s gonna go insane.” Pidge remarked curtly. 

Allura nodded. “He could very well need an intervention.” she suggested. “We’ll give him another week or so, but after that… it's already progressed to a stage that appears detrimental to his health.” 

So it was decided, a week to let Lance actually explain himself, or they would have to corner him into doing so. They dispersed with Pidge tailing Hunk. “Where are you going?” she asked, tugging on Hunk’s sleeve. 

Hunk looked back at Pidge. “To Lance, why?” 

“Hunk, you have to give yourself a break. Give Lance his own space, and maybe he’ll come to you.” Pidge said. 

With a defeated sigh, Hunk turned to Pidge. “Okay. What do you want to do instead?” He asked. He had gotten himself all worried about Lance, but maybe it was time to take a break from that. They had a plan, or at least a deadline, so he had to let it go for now. 

Pidge smiled, and Hunk had never seen the embodiment of ‘lit up like a christmas tree’ before, but this must be it. “We could find some weird alien fruit, and use one of the armory weapons to play real life fruit ninja!” she exclaimed, as if she had just thought of the best idea ever when coming to that revelation. Maybe she did. 

So that was how Hunk found himself holding purple fruit-like abominations, while Pidge held a sword with the most determined look at what was set before her. “RELEASE THE KRAKEN FRUIT!” She exclaimed, and Hunk lightly tossed a fruit. 

Now one would think that this wouldn’t work out as well as Pidge envisioned, but damn was it satisfying to see a fruit explode of its juices when it was cut in half in the air. Some of it splattered on Hunk’s face, but his eyes sparkled in awe at the mess. “Holy quiznack, we /have/ to do that again.” 

They kept at it, sometimes switching roles, but they both tended to agree that Pidge was better at slicing, and Hunk was better at throwing. It was the most fun they had had in a long while. Once they had spent the fruit, Pidge went up to Hunk, still sporting the widest grin. “Next time we stock up on fruit, we are so doing this again.” she said, reaching up and wiping some of the juice off Hunk’s face. 

Hunk leaned down and ruffled Pidge’s hair “Yeah, totally. Thanks for taking my mind off the whole Lance situation.” 

“You worry too much about him. I mean, yeah he’s your friend, but he’s not your responsibility.” Pidge said. 

“Yeah, I know… I just care about him. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he always cheers us up- that is, he did… when he was feeling better.”

Pidge nodded. “I know what you mean. He really checked up on all of us, whenever we were stressed or hyper focused on a task. It’s weird now that he's holed up in Keith’s room, like there’s something missing.” She scratched the back of her head, looking away. “Man, I guess I miss him.” Pidge shrugged. 

Hunk took no time in hugging Pidge, which made the smaller beta squeak in surprise. “We’ll get him back to normal. I promise.” He said, a little amused at the noise Pidge had made when she was hugged.

Was Pidge blushing? Hunk wasn’t sure if she was, but it still made his stomach twist in knots. It was then that Hunk realized that his crush was getting the best of him. 

“I ah… have to get started with dinner…” Hunk mumbled, parting his hug from Pidge. 

“Wait- can I help you?” Pidge asked, still holding onto Hunk’s arm. 

A million and one thoughts passed through Hunk’s head. It wasn’t like it was the first time that someone’s helped Hunk make dinner, sometimes, Hunk even let someone else do it by themselves. However, Hunk was trying to get out of an awkward situation, so he was blind sighted by the question. “Sure. I mean, I’m not sure if you’d want to, but if you do, I’m not stopping you.” 

They spent the rest of the day together, Hunk trying to push his romantic feelings to the side. It was weird to say the least, because they did have a good time, but the words ‘I love you’ were always at the tip of Hunk’s tongue. He just couldn’t get it off his mind, no matter how hard he tried. 

Still, Hunk knew that he had to wait. He wasn’t bold like Keith and Lance, and he wasn’t smart like Pidge, and he wasn’t-

“Hunk!” Pidge exclaimed, swatting him on the arm. Hunk had been so inside his head, that he had forgotten that he was talking to Pidge.

“Oh- uhm, what?” 

“I have a crush on you!” Pidge repeated, her voice pitchy, and eyes watering up. 

Hunk’s eyes widened. “I do too- but like, on you, not on me.” He laughed nervously, already feeling like he was failing. But he wasn’t! Pidge liked him! “So, what should we do about that?” 

“I dunno, what do you feel like doing?” Pidge asked leaning into Hunk, which made Hunk’s heart race. 

“Well, I’m not one to kiss on the first date, but…” Hunk trailed off looking into Pidge’s sparkling eyes.

Pidge’s eyes darted down to Hunk’s lips. “But?” she echoed. 

Hunk scratched the back of his head, looking away. “But, I want to. Maybe now’s not a good time though…” 

The smaller beta nodded, leaning her head on Hunk’s shoulder. “One day. I’m happy being your crush for now.” 

“And possibly my girlfriend?” Hunk asked, holding his breath in anticipation. 

“Yes.” 

They wouldn’t be as fast or passionate as Lance and Keith, but they both knew that they cared for each other. Sure, things weren’t perfect as of now, but at least among all of this, they had gravitated towards this new relationship.


	7. Goddammit Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title explains it more than I can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, apologies for my crappy updating schedule. I basically only write fanfics when I'm avoiding something else lol.

Hunk couldn’t wait to tell Lance about him and Pidge. When Pidge had finally gotten back to her coding, because the castle systems were advanced, but also very old, Hunk made his way to what was now Lance’s room, what with the nest that Lance had set up in Keith’s room. He found Lance looking in the mirror with his body facing sideways, with his shirt up. 

Lance seemed startled by the door opening, and shoved his shirt down. “Oh, hey Hunk. What’s up?” he asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed, although his leg bounced nervously. 

“Pidge and I are dating!” Hunk exclaimed gleefully, sitting next to Lance so quickly, that it bounced Lance up for a quick second, before Lance was able to regain his balance. 

“Really? That’s awesome man!” Lance said, smiling at his friend’s excited state. “How’d it happen?” 

Barely able to contain himself, Hunk started to explain the day that they had had, leaving out the details of being worried for Lance, because that wasn’t something he was about to share to him prematurely. It took a little bit of focus to follow, but Lance nodded, listening intently. “Well, I’m proud of you man. You could’ve left it as just a crush, but instead you stepped up, and used the g word. Excellent smooth talking if I do say so myself.” 

He hadn’t thought of himself being “smooth” per se, but if Lance wanted to label it that, Hunk wasn’t about to argue. “I almost can’t believe it… Pidge is so smart and funny, so I never thought she’d go for a guy like me.”

Lance chuckled, patting Hunk’s back, “You’re underestimating yourself. I wouldn’t be best friends with just anybody you know.” 

“Really? Because it seemed like you were kind of out of options.” Hunk teased, making Lance playfully shove him. This was good, Lance being present, because as of late, he really hadn’t been. “Now there’s the Lance I know.” Hunk said with a big smile. 

“Huh?” 

Hunk bit his lip, a little nervous that he had let that slip. “I uhm… Come on Lance, you know you haven’t been yourself.” He said, deciding to own his words. 

Lance rubbed the corner of his eye like he was trying to avoid tearing up. “I don’t want Keith to know just yet.” He said, his voice cracking slightly. 

“Know what?” Hunk asked with concern.

“That’s just it. If I tell you guys, Keith’s going to find out, and then his whole trip is going to end, it’s all going to be-” He stopped, starting up again in a low whisper, as if his voice couldn’t muster being any louder, “my fault.” 

Hunk scanned Lance’s eyes, his face etched with worry. “Lance, you’re scaring me. You’re not dying, are you?” 

Lance laughed bitterly, wiping his eyes, as if he expected tears to roll down any minute now. “Dying? I wish that were the case, would save me a lot of trouble down the line.” 

“Then what is it? Seriously. I don’t like to pressure you, but the whole team is trying to figure you out, because we care about you.” 

“Hunk. I’m… I’m pregnant.” Lance said, giving a smile as the waterworks came falling down. He sniffled, using his sleeve to wipe his face. “I checked myself in the pod a couple weeks ago. Keith can’t know, not while he’s on his mission.”

Wow. The funny thing was, Hunk didn’t know whether to be surprised or not. Sure, it wasn’t the answer that he was expecting, but in hindsight, it all sort of lined up. Small flashes came to mind, the sickness, the interest in the shape of his tummy, all that culminating into one answer. “So I’m guessing you decided to keep it?” Hunk asked. 

“It’s not like I have much of a choice.” Lance said, picking at his nails. “I checked the pod settings, there’s no abortion mode, or anything even close to that. I even looked under parasite removal, and I came up with nothing. Not to mention that the only reason I’d want an abortion is because of Keith. He’s a great guy, but honestly, I think he has some… issues, with what being a father means, if you know what I mean.” 

“Well, what do you want?” Hunk asked after Lance had his little rambling. 

Lance looked down, and put his hand on his belly. It looked like just the tiniest bit of extra roundness, almost indistinguishable for anyone that didn’t know how much Lance worked out on the regular. “I want them. I want a family so, so bad. I’ve always grown up with siblings everywhere I turn, and I took that for granted til I actually found myself on my own- not that you guys aren’t great, it’s just a different type of togetherness.”

It was understandable, the whole narrative coming together. “I’m here for you but… I think we need to tell everyone, including Keith.” Hunk said. 

“What.” It almost wasn’t even a question, more of a threat that was just about to form. “Hunk, I already told you why that’s a bad idea.” 

“They’re Keith’s child too, he deserves to know.” Hunk argued. “Plus, you can’t honestly expect this to stay a secret up until…” He paused, recalling how long Keith said he would be gone for. “Month six??? You’re going to show, and you need prenatal care that you probably can’t just do on your own.” 

Lance sucked in a breath of air through his nose, almost like a reverse sigh, that carried the tenseness that he was feeling. “Fine, then we’ll tell everyone except Keith.” He decided. “I don’t care what it takes, Keith deserves to live his life before anything else.” 

“Lance.”

“Hunk.” Lance shot right back, with a bit of a bite to it. He sighed, closing his eyes. “You have to trust me on this. Pups should be the last thing on Keith’s mind right now.” 

Hunk leaned his head down, as if he were peering over invisible glasses. “Even if they’re his?” 

There was a pause, Lance thinking over the question posed. He started to play with the edge of his nest, just fluffing the pillows and all that. “What other choice do I have? He’ll hate me either way, so at least he gets a little fun before…” 

“He won’t hate you, that’s not something I could see Keith doing.” Hunk replied. “You both get upset at each other sometimes, but even then, I never see you hating each other.” 

“Just give me some time. Please. I don’t care who else you tell, as long as it doesn’t get around to Keith.” 

“Alright.” Hunk replied, already planning on cancelling the intervention. It was a good thing that Hunk had found out sooner, saving the embarrassment of Lance breaking down in front of the whole lot of them. “Is there anything I can do for now?” 

Lance grinned sheepishly. “Maybe could we just have food goo for dinner today? I’ve been wanting that for a while.” 

Hunk had tried to make different things so they could avoid food goo, so it surprised him that Lance would want it. Maybe because they had had it for so long before, that it was familiar to Lance? Hunk didn’t know. “Okay, food goo it is.” 

The two boys hung out for a little while, Hunk helping Lance gather more materials for his nest. That was a perk of being a beta, omegas not being intimidated by him when they were nest making. Lance started tensing up as he patted down rises in the nest’s center. “There’s going to be a pup in this nest someday.” he squeaked, fidgeting a little with his hands. 

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point.” Hunk teased, quite amused with Lance’s nervous state. He passed Lance a soft blanket. “Do you want a girl or a boy?”

Lance accepted the blanket, smoothing it out over a pillow. “I don’t know. I mean, they could end up trans, so gender really isn’t something I want to hold onto. What I really want to know is how many…” 

Hunk nearly choked on his own spit. “What do you mean by how many?” He asked, his eyes bugging out in shock. 

“Oh yeah, multiples are kind of common in my family. I was a twin, my older siblings are all triplets, my mom was a quadruplet, and I have a lot of cousins as well as nieces and nephews that follow a similar pattern.” Lance explained. “It’s why I have such a big family.” 

“Quiznack man, that’s gotta be rough.” Hunk said, patting Lance’s back. He cared for his friend, and this was definitely not what he had expected from Lance. He would always be there, through thick and thin, that was a promise he held near and dear to his heart. 

Lance merely shrugged, playing around with his nesting materials. “Normal is boring, that’s what my momma always said. So if my family is a little weird, I guess that’s a good thing.” 

The rest of the time was normal, and frankly boring slice of life. It was obvious that Lance was going to keep the pup- or pups if it may be assumed. Hunk didn’t agree with Lance’s decision not to tell Keith, but he wasn’t about to say anything to Keith either. The next day, Hunk went to Shiro, who usually had the answers about life, given that he was the adult of the group, save for Coran, who sometimes spouted off topic nonsense. 

So suffice to say, it was easier to go to Shiro. 

“He’s pregnant.” Shiro repeated Hunk’s words, as if he almost didn’t believe it. 

“Yeah, but he’s very certain that he won’t tell Keith till he comes back from the blade.”

“And you couldn’t talk it out of him?” Shiro asked, worry lines etched on his face. 

Hunk shook his head, “No, he’s very stubborn…” That was an understatement. “Shiro, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be a bad friend to either of them, but it seems like no matter what I do, I’ll mess it up.” 

Shiro hummed, mulling over the situation at hand. “Well, it’s not our secret to tell. At least he plans on letting Keith know eventually. Maybe we could nudge Keith into coming back early.” 

And that’s how Hunk and Shiro found themselves calling Keith in secret, over in an empty room in the castle. Keith’s face popped up on the screen, but his eyes looked like they were focused on something else. “Hey guys, it’s not really a good time…” Keith said, the background moving behind him as his eyes darted between the screen and whatever was ahead of him. 

“Keith, Lance isn’t doing so well without you.” Shiro said. “We’re concerned about him, and his health.” 

“Quiznack-” Keith cursed, a stray laser bullet shooting past him. “I wish I could help, but right now, I’m not in the best position to come back. It’s not an emergency is it?” 

Hunk opened his mouth, wanting to say yes, but realizing what Lance had said about all of this. “Not exactly…” He couldn’t say that sort of thing to get Keith to come back, not when Lance had specifically stated being against that. 

Keith seemed to be half paying attention, which wasn’t exactly the best position for this conversation. “Alright. Well, if Lance wants to talk to me, preferably later, I’m all ears but I have to go. Tell Lance I love him.” 

“Wait-” Hunk said, but it was too late, the screen went dark. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Well that went down just about as well as the titanic.” he commented sarcastically. 

Shiro looked exasperated, his whole body slumping. He was technically young, but everything in his life had forced him to grow older much quicker than the average person. It had made all of team Voltron grow older in one aspect or another. “I guess it all relies on Lance.” He decided in finality. 

Hunk frowned, his eyes trailing towards the expanse of space. Nothingness that they had somehow filled with something much greater than themselves. How long would this last? How long could they last?


	8. Growth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's getting harder to hide.

Hunk had tried to just forget that anything was different for the next month or so. Sure Lance needed time to nest, and was occasionally hacking up food, but once the rumors went around team Voltron, it was quickly ignored. Hunk mainly focused his interests on Pidge, now that their new romantic relationship was coming into bloom. 

Oddly enough, it wasn’t that different from their friendship, aside from a small peck on the lips every now and then. They just spent time together, argued about single versus double modulating, and quickly decided to agree to disagree. Hunk enjoyed talking to Pidge in his room, just patting down her unruly head of hair. 

Lance found his way into said room, his sweater all zipped up. “Hunk, do you have any extra shirts I can borrow?” He asked, biting his lip ever so slightly.

Hunk quirked an eyebrow. “They wouldn’t fit you, you know.” He commented, wondering what he would need them for. 

“Too loose is better than too tight- I can barely put on my old shirt.” Lance explained. He was shifting a lot in his stance, like the omega was nervous about even talking about being… well, that thing. 

“Oh. Yeah sure, go ahead.” Hunk said, uncomfortable with the topic. Ever since Lance had decided to plead the fifth with Keith, everyone had gone silent on the matter. 

Pidge tilted her head, pushing her glasses up her nose that would slip occasionally. They weren’t the right size for her, but she was adamant about always wearing them. “What are you going to tell Keith?” She asked, “He’s going to realize you’re wearing Hunk’s shirts.” 

Lance snorted, going to Hunk’s dresser, which had castle made duplicates of the clothes that they wore. “You’re still talking about my Keith right?” He said, finding humor in Pidge’s statement. “No offense to him, but Keith is very oblivious.”

“And you are too.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Lance responded to Pidge, waving his hand dismissively. “Point is, he won’t notice. Thanks Hunk, I really owe ya one.” He said, unzipping his sweater.

Just like Hunk had suspected, Lance’s shirt was tight, bunched up so that the hem was slightly exposing Lance’s belly. So that was why Lance had his sweater zipped up… Hunk’s eyes darted to Pidge, and she gave a knowing, slightly distressed look. It had long since passed that anyone asked Lance to tell Keith, but seeing physical proof of the pregnancy made Hunk rethink it all. 

“And Keith still shouldn’t know?” Hunk said, trying to work his worried tone into the sentence. 

Lance sighed, changing into Hunk’s shirt. “I’ve already come this far. Seems like a lot of trouble over nothing to quit now.” 

Pidge frowned, lying back on the bed. “I don’t even get why it’s a big deal. So what if you’re knocked up? Keith wouldn’t cut his mission short.” 

“Really?” Lance said flatly, quirking his brow skeptically. “Keith is impulsive, if something is set before him, and it’s important to him, he’ll drop everything else to focus on it. He doesn’t do multitasking. That’s why he went away, instead of just taking some missions from both Voltron and the blade.” 

“Point taken.” Pidge responded, furrowing her brows, probably trying to think of a way to solve this dilemma. “Well… it’s just two more months.” 

Hunk nodded, wishing he could do more to help. “Have you been doing check ups with Coran?” He asked, kind of realizing that he hadn’t been tailing Lance anymore as of late. 

Lance straitened the new shirt he had on, shrugging a bit. “A little. There’s not much we can do, what with the pods not being equipped for human pregnancy. I’m taking vitamins that we could find that would help, but it’s not like I’m able to do ultrasounds or anything like that.” He explained. 

“So you really don’t know how your pup is doing.” Pidge commented with a frown. “I wish I could help. I know technology, but I’m not like a doctor or anything like that. If I tried to make something, I wouldn’t know what would be, you know, safe to try on an actual human person.” 

It was sweet that Pidge was thinking about how to help Lance, even if it wouldn’t work out. Hunk hugged her from behind and she made a small squeaking sound- so cute. However, that was besides the point. “We could try Yellow’s rock echolocation tool?” Hunk suggested, before cringing and rethinking the issue. “Nevermind, that’s probably way too powerful.” 

“No kidding. As much as we enjoy our relationships with our lions, when it boils down to it, they’re weapons of war.” Pidge explained, even though that was more than obvious. Oftentimes, Pidge was way ahead of everyone in her thought process, but it was hard for her to remember that she didn’t have to dumb down everything. At times, it could feel condescending, but Hunk knew she was only trying to help. 

Lance sat down on the bed, resting his hand on his baby bump. “I hope they’re okay- the pup I mean. I’m at four months and I’m already not fitting into my shirt. I don’t even know if it’s normal or not.” 

Pidge made a thoughtful face, squinting at nothingness. “Well, the pup is a quarter Galra, so for some stuff, human biology might not apply.” She suggested. 

“I’ll figure this stuff out later, hopefully with Keith next to me.” Lance decided, already overwhelmed with all of this talk of the baby, Hunk could see it in his eyes. 

Every time Lance got nervous, he would try to contact Keith, even if he never told Keith exactly what was going on. Hunk saw that happening just hours after the whole conversation they had. 

“I miss you.” Keith said through the screen, having a soft look directed at Lance. Hunk technically wasn’t supposed to be around, but he was tinkering with the ship’s control panel, so their activities were vaguely intertwined. 

Lance smiled, though it didn’t quite express itself with his whole face- maybe not even his whole heart. “I miss you too. It’s just two months away.” 

“Phoebs. It’s two phoebs away.” Keith corrected. 

“Same diff.” Lance said with a shrug. Hunk was honestly surprised with how chill Lance was being. Usually that would be a precursor to a random fight. 

Apparently, Keith got the memo too. “What is wrong with you?” He asked. Dear lord, not the best way to start a heart to heart Keith. Not at all. Hunk tried to stay quiet, but it was like watching a drama unfolding. 

Lance furrowed his brows, his mouth parting. “What do you mean what’s wrong with me- what’s wrong with _you_?!” 

“I’m not the one acting like a sad slug, and wearing my supposed best friend’s shirt, and being all detached from everything!” 

Lance gasped. “Supposed best friend?! Hunk is my best friend!” 

Keith crossed his arms, squinting at the screen. “Then why are you wearing his shirt?” He said, a bit more calm but also cold.” 

Lance gulped, and Hunk could see his hand shaking before he ran it through his hair. “I… I can’t fit into anything else.” He said, his voice shaken and pitchy. 

It was easy to see that Keith was taken aback. “What do you me- no, nevermind, I know what it means.” He amended himself. He probably thought that it was just Lance gaining weight and was self conscious about it. 

Hunk wanted to go over to Lance, but it might just make things worse, so he stayed in place, away from the screen, still acting like he was tinkering away at the device in front of him. Lance looked on the verge of tears- no wait, he actually was crying. Water spilled from his eyes, and it seemed like no one could stop it. 

“Shit- Lance, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel bad about-”

“Well it’s kind of fucking late for that, now is it?” Lance snapped, his eyes still wet with tears. Hunk had never heard Lance curse like he did in that moment. 

The line fell silent, as the two stared at each other. Lance was giving a glare, while Keith sat helplessly in place. “Lance… You know you can talk to me, right?” he asked, now unsure if Lance had been completely honest with him. 

“What am I supposed to say? I’m falling apart, and I can’t even let my alpha do one thing on his own? It’s pathetic.” Lance responded, crossing his arms. Hunk wondered for a second how much of Lance Keith could see. Lance probably adjusted the camera to only see what he wanted Keith to see. 

“We did just mate… maybe it’s withdrawals from being apart?” Keith suggested. “I’m sorry, maybe-” 

“Nope, no you don’t Kogane!” Lance budded in before Keith could finish his sentence. “I will not have you say mating was a mistake! I just-” he sniffled, trying to wipe away his tears. “I just really miss you.” 

Keith sighed, looking off the screen for a moment, and at what wasn’t something anyone could quite figure out. “I’ll see what I can do. No promises, but I might be able to come back a little early. 

Lance gasped, “Keith, you can’t-” 

“I can, and I will.” Was what he interrupted with. “I love you, and I care too much about you to ignore this. I’ll call back when I have an answer. Love you, bye.” 

So Lance was left with a blank mind and screen. It took a moment to process what Keith had said. “He’s coming home.” he said softly, and Hunk was unsure what he felt on the matter. 

“Thank god. No offense Lance, but you needed this.” Hunk said, walking over to the omega. He had long abandoned his tinkering project, mostly because there were much more interesting things going on with Lance. 

Lance sighed, stretching out his arms and back. “Maybe you’re right… I just wanted Keith to have his own time but I’m not in a place where I can be alone. I keep sniffing all of Keith’s stuff that he left, but it’s losing its scent.” 

Hunk nodded, understanding Lance’s plight. “Which is why you should let Keith come back. He’ll be there for you in ways that our friends and I can’t be.” It would be a relief for Hunk, after all, he wouldn’t have to be so hypersensitive of Lance, because Keith would be there to console the omega. Hunk might even have more time to spend with Pidge, which was great because their relationship was going great, at a much slower pace than Keith and Lance. They hadn’t ever like- hard core made out, being dodgy about even the simplest of kisses, but Hunk was fine with it, they were more about feelings than the physicality of a relationship. It was soft, but it was good. 

Hunk recounted the conversation with Keith to Pidge, not too long after in private. Pidge hummed, thinking it over. “They’re just really passionate people. Of course they’re going to want to be together through this, even if Keith doesn’t know what he’s getting into.” 

“Yeah…” Hunk mused, scratching his chin. He had forgotten to shave that day, so he had a little stubble that was just barely there. “I just hope this goes down alright. I don’t know how well Keith will take the fact that he’s been lied to.”

“Well, Keith’s a good guy, and he loves Lance, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Pidge said. 

Hunk quirked an eyebrow. “I’m not sure about Keith, but I’d be mad if you were pregnant and didn’t tell me.” 

Pidge snorted. “Easy there buster, you can barely kiss me without crumpling in on yourself, and I’m not a cheating kind of person.” 

“It was just a thought.” Hunk said, putting his arm around Pidge. He was blushing, palms sweaty- could he even cuddle his girlfriend without having an emotional crisis? He just had to get better at this… Be a good boyfriend. 

It was always a thought, something that couldn’t be said. Hunk wanted to make a move with Pidge, but he didn’t know how. Maybe he had to take lessons from Keith and Lance- that is, if it all worked out with them… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooow, I am writing this during class, god help me and my grades- hope you enjoy this hahaha


	9. Keith's Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we have a dramatic shift in who is mentally unstable.

Lance paced around the room, one hand supporting his back, the other, resting on his belly. It was month five of Lance carrying Keith Jr, and Keith was just about to find out that the baby existed in the first place. “Alright, alright alright. Keith’s on his way, no biggie. Baby is safe, and t-minus who knows how long till Keith sees me like this.” 

“Relax Lance. Freaking out is only going to make things worse.” Pidge said, trying to intercept Lance’s walk pattern. She put her hand on Lance’s shoulder, in an attempt to stop him. 

“Keith is an upstanding gentleman, he’ll accept you all the same.” Coran chimed in. “And if he doesn’t, well accidents can happen.” 

Shiro didn’t even have to say anything, giving Coran a “look” that could pierce through walls. That was his adoptive brother they were talking about, and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to him. 

Coran relented, putting his hands up. “You be protective over your boy, and I’ll be protective over mine.” He defended himself. “Besides, I doubt it will come to that.” 

The team all waited in the control room for Keith to dock his ship, and once they got notification that he had landed, they went to the hangar to greet the alpha. They arrived as the door hissed open, Lance hiding behind everyone else. Keith stepped out, a knapsack slung over his shoulder. 

“Hey.” Keith said with a smile, looking out into the small crowd. Hunk had to kind of corral Lance forward, the omega looking shyly at the floor. Keith stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes skimming down to Lance’s torso. “Is that what I...” he trailed off, unsure of if he should finish that sentence.

Lance glanced up at Keith, putting a hand on his own belly. “Yeah… you’re going to be a dad.” 

Keith’s lips parted, a shaky breath sucking in between them. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He asked his hand reaching out, to hold Lance’s free hand. 

“You were so excited about being a blade member, I couldn’t just take that away from you.” Lance explained. He thumbed over Keith’s knuckles, displaying some worried affection. “Besides, I know you would’ve dropped everything if I had said that… you technically did drop everything already.” 

“It wasn’t that important.” Keith said, shrugging off the minor accusation- in fact, it was more of a compliment than anything. “You’re what’s important. Am I a little upset that you kept it from me? Yeah, but I’m just grateful that I can be here now.” 

Lance got all choked up, blinking away the heat in his eyes. “I love you babe.” He said, leaning up to give Keith a soft kiss. Keith didn’t lean into it, which was definitely weird, but Hunk wasn’t about to analyze his friends’ kisses. That was one step too far. 

“Well it’s great to have you back.” Shiro said, patting Keith’s back after the kiss was broken. “We need a pilot for Red, technically we have been needing one, given Lance’s condition.” 

“I’m pregnant, not sick.” Lance huffed, a little peeved that what he thought was good work was going unrecognized. “But I guess you’re right… Red would go insane if I started going into labor on a mission.”

Coran stepped up, putting a hand on his shoulder. “No worries number four, there’s plenty you can do to help in the castle. I’ll keep an eye out for you, but I am perfectly aware of your valuable skill sets.” 

Hunk smiled, looking at his friends all together. They all knew how to help in different ways. He knew Coran was trying to talk up Lance, and hey, it was working. Lance already looked so much better than the last couple months. The omega was clinging onto Keith, and Hunk was sure that if all eyes weren’t on them, that Lance would be begging to be scented. 

Keith on the other hand… Well, it was probably the shock that was taking root in him. Keith was always going to be by Lance’s side, but Lance had already passed him in the rollercoaster of emotions, and now Keith had only a little window of time to adjust. 

The team eventually parted ways, Keith making excuses that he had to unpack his things. Since when did Keith carry more than a small bag of essentials? Either way, Hunk spent some time with Lance, Pidge, and Allura, while Shiro and Coran helped Keith out. Lance was braiding Allura’s hair, a small content smile on his face, while Pidge watched, having never learned to french braid the way Lance was expertly trained. Hunk was a little worried for Keith, but surely Shiro and Coran would help him out. 

“Lance… What’s it like to be, you know, pregnant?” Pidge mumbled, her eyes fixated on the braiding that was being done. 

Lance hummed, thinking it over. “Well, it’s definitely weird. Lots of barfing, cravings, heat flashes, and all that, but… it’s also kind of cool. You’re not thinking of-” 

Pidge snorted, “Oh no, definitely not. Not right now at least. Let’s not freak Hunk out.” 

“Too late, already had a mini heart attack.” Hunk teased. He knew that he wasn’t ready to even have protected sex with Pidge, so a baby was out of the question. He was perfectly fine with just being Uncle Hunk when the time came for Keith and Lance’s baby to be born. 

“Oh my quiznack-” Lance said, his eyes widening. 

Hunk quirked an eyebrow. “What? It wasn’t /that/ dramatic.” 

Lance waved his hand, shooing that thought away. “No, not that. The baby. It’s kicking!” 

Allura turned her head, wincing a bit, because she forgot that her hair was being held, so it pulled at her scalp. “May I try to feel?” She asked excitedly. 

“Yeah, sure!” Lance said, sitting still so that Allura could put her hand on his belly. Allura’s eyes sparkled, indeed feeling the baby’s movements. 

It was hard to believe this was all happening. Hunk smiled, watching his friends and girlfriend get so excited about all of this. 

Unfortunately, the feeling was short lived. By the end of the day, Lance was complaining, saying “The quiznacker keeps hitting me in the bladder”, among other things. It was late when Hunk was reading out in the control room area, while Lance splayed across his seat, his eye twitching ever so slightly. “This is so cutting into my beauty sleep time.” He muttered, one hand resting on his belly. 

“Lance, come on, it’s time to go to bed.” A wild Keith appeared in the doorway. He looked worn, bags under his eyes. 

“Can’t.” Lance responded. “The baby’s being a bitch.” 

Keith sucked in a deep breath of air. “At least get in bed with me, it will help.” He coaxed. 

Lance turned to Keith standing up with a huff. “Fine. You’re lucky you cuddle good, or I’d-”

“You’d be miserably sitting here with nothing better to do.” Hunk budded in. He was thankful that Keith had come to swoop Lance away from his self pity.

Lance blushed, smoothing down his shirt- well one of the shirts he’d been stealing from Hunk. “Alright, so maybe I have been a stick in the mud.” 

Keith walked up to Lance, giving him a big hug. “It’s going to be alright. I’m sorry I ditched you for a bit. I’m still processing the… the baby.” 

“I know. I made a mistake… I should’ve told you the moment I found out the condom broke, but you had passed out, and it was easier to keep it to myself.” Lance was fiddling with his fingers, acting as nervous as one could be. 

“Yeah, I was wondering how that happened.” Keith said, giving a half smile after breaking the hug. “Let’s just get to bed.” 

Hunk watched them leave. They were a couple that was going through a rough patch, but they were going through it together. It was inspiring, but also exhausting to watch. He loved his friends, and he wanted them to work this out, but like anything worth having, it would take time. Hunk could see the weary look in Keith’s eyes, and deduce the whiny state Lance was in was a bundle of nerves. They were trying their best with each other, but they definitely were not on the same page. 

No matter, they would get there soon… and if soon was months, then so be it, as long as it was before they brought their child into the world. They were on a time limit, and hopefully it wouldn’t get in the way of healing- or whatever it would take to get them back together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for this chapter being shorter, I just kind of realized that it was a good break in the story, and to push it further, I'd have to cut off something else that needs to be fleshed out more. Remember how I had Lotor still with us a bit more than a couple chapters ago? Well, that's important lol. 
> 
> Oh, and I never saw the last season of voltron, for personal reasons, and I'll write this how I want and you can't stop meeeeeeee!


	10. Tell Him Where to Stick His Grapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama, drama, drama hehehe

Hunk looped around, zeroing on the planet’s surface. He wished he could say that he was in the heat of a battle, but this was just a diplomatic display of power. That’s all it’s ever been as of late. Sometimes it made him wonder if he was actually on the “good side”, given that they were shaping the universe to their will. As much as none of them said it, there was a new intergalactic order, and Voltron had become the keystone to the entire operation. The galra were kind of friends now, with rules about their relationships with other nations, and Hunk wasn’t sure if that was good or not. 

Regardless, it was needless to say, Allura was definitely seeing Lotor on the side. Hunk didn’t have any problem with him per se, but Keith was annoyed with him, which made Lance annoyed, which had a trickling down effect with Hunk as well. Lotor had a smooth talking demeanor, and it was obvious that he prided himself in that. Did it make him manipulative? Not exactly, but Hunk could see why that would get on Keith’s nerves. Keith was not a personable person, so trying to compromise wasn’t exactly in his vocabulary.

Throughout all of this, Keith had managed to have a stronghold on the quintessence opinion, whether or not to open the portal. Keith was stubborn, and Lance kept up his stance, even in Keith’s absence. Not that anyone wanted to argue with the slightly hormonal Lance McClain. 

But enough of a history lesson, this all started after the exhibition, among the festivities. Hunk had been able to land Yellow, and they sat at a long dining table, inside the castle of lions. 

“Lotor, for the last time, the quintessence extraction is dangerous, and will never happen, so long as I am on team voltron.” Keith argued, his eye twitching a little. They had been over this time after time, but the galran was relentless.

“If you’re going by that logic, you had left team voltron phoebs ago, yet here we are, still going back and forth on the matter.” Lotor said flatly. 

Keith grit his teeth, his hand clutching his fork tightly. “We’re only doing this because you won’t drop it. I’m not playing your game, so forget about it.” 

Lance put his hand on Keith’s thigh, which was probably supposed to make Keith comforted, but it only made him jump a little, not expecting that kind of contact. Hunk had to stifle a laugh, because they were still at a public event, and they had to be on their best behavior.

Lotor pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes at Keith. “I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice. I have a ship that I’m working on with Allura to perform the necessary duties that Voltron would for the excavation. Allura supports me wholeheartedly, and we will get the quintessence. Either you help us out, or you will become an enemy… which it won’t be too hard to pick you off with most of your so-called team on my side.” 

Keith’s eyes bugged out, and honestly, Hunk could see why. Lotor was ruthless, and while Hunk was indifferent about the whole idea, he could see why this could be bad. “You’re insane, taking advantage of Allura because she’s your girlfriend or whatever.” 

“Do we have an agreement?” Lotor pressed on, tactfully ignoring Keith’s insult. Keith had to nod, being the broken man he was. 

“No, we don’t.” Hunk interjected. “Keith has always been there for us when it really counts. You can’t just pressure him like that. You open up that portal, and you’re not just Keith’s enemy, you’re mine too.” 

Lotor huffed, standing up from his seat, arranging his silverware in a tidy manner. “Very well then, but this is far from over.” Allura had gotten up to greet him, but Lotor merely shouldered her aside. 

Allura appeared shocked, and scurried over to Keith with a scowl. “This is about the quinessence again.” She accused, even if she most certainly hit the nail on the head. 

“It’s a dangerous game. You know the story of Zarkon’s trip to crazy town.” Lance budded in, always there to support his mate. 

“I don’t understand why you can’t at least give him a chance.” 

Keith looked down at his food, unappetizing not by looks, but from the turmoil inside his head. “Let’s do it.” he said simply.

“But Keith-” Lance started to say. 

“No. I’m sick and tired of battle after battle. I just want him to shut up, and if this is what it takes… Let’s do it.” He told his friends.

So that’s how they started to seriously plan the quintessence extraction. 

Hunk had quite a bit of fun crunching numbers with his girlfriend. They didn’t know too much about this subject, but they followed along with Slav, as Shiro stayed as far away from the front of the ship as he could. Hunk had to admit, Slav was a little annoying, but they needed him, so they tolerated the point zero zero one chance that he would drive anyone on this ship to kill him. 

Lance was in the room, as well as Keith, the two of them looking at the data. “I don’t know about this babe. It all seems pretty risky.” He said with a frown.

“What other choice do we have?” Keith replied.

“Take voltron’s sword and stick it up Lotor’s ass.” Lance shot back curtly. 

Keith laughed, wrapping his arm around Lance, and pulling him closer. He was starting to warm up a little more to Lance- and the baby, even if he still had his moments of vulnerability. It was all a difficult process, and Lance was being understanding of said process. “I get what you mean… but it’s just one of those problems that will never go away unless we act. Maybe Lotor’s right, but we’ll never know unless we try.” 

Lance nuzzled into Keith’s shirt, wanting a little extra attention, which Hunk found slightly humorous. “Oh alright.” Lance muttered, letting everyone continue with the project- Not that he could really stop it from happening. He was on the outside of it all, and Hunk could see that it made him uneasy. 

“Don’ t worry Lance, we’ll look out for each other.” Hunk said, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Thanks Hunk.” Lance replied with a smile. “You guys are all like family to me… I just don’t want to see any of you get hurt- or worse.” 

Hunk chuckled, copying one of the equations onto the board to work it out. “Relax, we’re not gonna turn evil.” 

“Imagine that. Soft hugging adorable Hunk turning evil.” Pidge said with a snort. 

“I’m a person, not a stuffed animal.” Hunk said, although he himself was laughing. 

Pidge hugged Hunk, getting close to him. “Sure you are.” Pidge said looking up at him with a smile. 

“It’s kind of funny how we all paired up over time.” Lance said, his eyes moving around to each person. “What’s next- Allura and Shiro?” he teased. 

Keith laughed out loud, a big belly laugh. “Lance- Shiro is gay as hell! He has a boyfriend back on earth!”

Lance’s mouth dropped wide open. “Are you shitting me?! Oh my god- why am I just learning this now?!” 

“Because our studios queer bait people.” Pidge said with a shrug. 

Hunk had no idea what that meant, but he decided against questioning it. After all, Pidge often said odd things that not even Hunk understood. No one else said anything as well, so it seemed to be a group agreement. 

Soon, the quintant (day) grew late, and everyone dispersed. Hunk was about to go to bed, when he heard voices down the hall. 

“Look, all I’m saying is that there are other options than going through parenthood- like what about adoption?” Keith’s voice said, making Hunk hold back a gasp. Was Keith really thinking of giving the baby up? 

Lance did the gasping for Hunk, pushing Keith away. “You’re a coward, that’s what you are. Why won’t you just say it? You’re afraid to be a father.” 

Keith’s hands balled up into fists, visibly shaking. “I’m not afraid. I’m practical. I thought you wanted to be in voltron, not parenting some snot-nosed baby.”

“That ‘snot-nosed’ baby is your child!” Lance exclaimed, his eyes prickling up with tears. “Why don’t you care about them? Why is it so hard for you to love anyone but yourself?”

“Lance-” 

“Don’t you ‘Lance’ me. I’m taking responsibility.” Lance stated, turning away. “I’m going to _my_ room. I might even make a nest in there if you don’t shape up.”

Lance left, and Keith yelled, punching the wall. He turned the corner, seeing Hunk there. Hunk’s eyes widened, realizing that he had been spotted. 

“Were you- _spying_ on us?” Keith asked, his eyes narrowing. 

Hunk gulped, realizing the guilt he had worn for the past, he didn’t know when. He had always spied on them, but it was just now that he was realizing that they might not like that- the understatement of the decaphoeb. He took a deep breath in, barely able to stand normally. “Well- uh yes- but- like… I wasn’t exactly meaning to! You were in the hall, and I didn’t want to barge in, but I needed to go that way! I’m... I’m sorry…” He hung his head, the weight on his sins crashing down on him. 

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. “You know what? Whatever.” He said, shaking his head, then chuckled a little. “I bet we sound like one quiznacking dramatic telenovela or whatever. Wanna see what happens in act two? You and me both…” 

“Keith…” Hunk said, putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You’re the most confident person I know. What’s stopping you?” 

“I know it’s hard to believe but… I kind of have parental issues.” 

Hunk snorted in spite of himself. “Really? You’re just now realizing that?” 

Keith glared at Hunk, which Hunk wasn’t sure if that was called for or not- but it probably was. “Anyways… I’m sure I’ll be just as bad at parenting as my parents. Both of them left me because they were so sure they could save other people while being a parent, but my mom left, and then my dad died… the least I could do is make sure my kid has a better home.” 

“So what you’re saying is that your parents gave you up so that they could fight their battles?” Hunk asked. “Isn’t that exactly what you’re doing if you give your child up for adoption?” 

“No. Because I’m not fooling anyone by thinking I can do both.” Keith explained. “Lance thinks he can just do everything, but he can’t. My parents tried, and they lost. Do you know how hard it is to put an older kid up for adoption? All those adopting parents want a baby, so they can pretend they had their child on their own. If we wait too long, no one’s going to want our kid… not even Lance.” 

Hunk frowned, realizing that this went deeper than he had once thought. “Alright, but maybe you’re underestimating Lance. Family is everything to him.” 

Keith gave Hunk a dubious glare. “And leave him alone with a child? I don’t think so. Look, I appreciate your attempts to smooth things over, but I don’t think anything is going to change my mind. Please just leave me alone.” he said, starting to walk off. 

Hunk decided to go to Lance’s room to see what was going on on his end. Maybe he was nosy… The guilt of eavesdropping was settling in, but he had to make sure his friend was okay. He went to Lance’s room, opening the door to find the omega wearing his sheets like a hood while sitting criss cross in the bed. 

“How did you know I was here?” Lance asked, pulling the sheets tightly close to himself.

“I ah… just talked to Keith.” Hunk said, which definitely was true. 

Lance softly fell to his side on the bed, whimpering a little. “I want this baby. I want them so bad.” he whispered. 

Hunk patted Lance’s head, trying to console him. “It’s your choice, but I’m not sure we can get Keith on board.” 

“I know.” Lance said softly. “I know.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so no promises, but I'm going to try to regularly update, so we'll see how that goes. This is where I am heavily getting into cannon divergence, but if you've made it this far, you must know that already lol.
> 
> Idk If imma add Romelle, but I'm starting to think Krolia is a good person to introduce soon, maybe?? 
> 
> I don't know wtf i'm doing hahahahahahaha


	11. Delaying the Inevitable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two things are delayed, due to the power of plot lol

“I know.” Lance repeated, whimpering some more. 

Hunk didn’t quite know what to do with a depressed Lance, but he was willing to try. “You really want a family don’t you?” He said. 

“Is it that obvious?” Lance asked with a bit of a weary laugh to it. “Before I left, my mom was already asking my older brother when he was going to give her grandchildren. He was nineteen. The McClains sure do multiply, because big families are what we know how to do.”

“I get what you mean.” Hunk said to Lance. “But is Keith less important than that?” 

“No! I mean yes! I… I don’t know.” Lance hung his head. “I’m starting to see I can’t have both, can I?” 

Hunk stayed silent for a bit. Keith’s mind seemed pretty made up when he had talked to him, merely seconds ago. “I don’t know, but no matter what, I’m here for ya buddy.” he promised, Keith be damned. Keith had very good reasons for not supporting this, but Lance… Lance was his friend, and he knew that this was important to him. 

Lance sighed, pulling the sheets that were over his head down so that it rested on his shoulders, even if it messed up his hair, staticing every which way. “I’m going to have to be a single parent. Keith’s probably going to run away again, and I’ll be left with our baby.” His voice cracked a little, tearing up again, but stopping before any actually spilled down. 

It was hard to expect what would happen with the two of them, but Lance seemed to go the route of very loudly “ignoring” Keith. He’d do these very loud “hmph!”s and cross his arms looking away. Keith would often deadpan and look like he was turning to a camera like in The Office. 

“They’re really getting on my nerves.” Pidge commented when they were alone together, as they were looking over some code for the castle’s systems. 

Hunk shrugged, pulling down his head wrap a little afterwards. “I’m done meddling in their lives. You should’ve seen Keith’s face when he found out I was eavesdropping.” 

Pidge frowned, sighing as she typed away at her computer. “Well they’re going to have to make up sometime. They bicker like an old married couple on most days.”

“That’s just it. Married couples shouldn’t argue like how people say they should. That’s just a social stigma.” Hunk interjected. Sometimes it was hard to tell how relationships should work, because for some reason it was popular to be unhappy in a long-term relationship. 

“Yeah, I get what you mean… but when it boils down to it, they love each other. Shouldn’t that be enough?” 

That was the real test of things, regardless of anyone’s stance on the matter. Hunk merely shrugged, unsure of what to do. 

“I am not carrying around this thing for nine months and not keeping it!” Lance exclaimed rather loudly, probably coming from down the hall. 

“Well I’m not going to watch you fail at being a parent!” Keith’s voice was heard as well.

Pidge deadpanned, heaving a big sigh. “Here we go again.” Apparently, they were quarrelling- no, scratch that, they were definitely going at it.

Lance came bursting into the room, dramatically laying on a seat. “Fine, then don’t watch me. Go run away like you always do.” 

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning on the doorframe. He seemed to be at his wit’s end with the omega. “I’m just trying to be reasonable here.”

“Fine, let’s get reasonable. We live in a freaking castle with plenty of room for a nursery. There’s enough people to fly the lions while one of us stays behind to take care of the baby. We’re not short on food or supplies in any way. I’ve taken care of my nieces and nephews, so I’m no stranger to childcare.” Lance said, counting out each reason on his fingers.  “We have everything we need; why won’t you just let this happen?” 

Keith clamped his teeth together with his mouth still closed in a stressed manner. He put his hand on the back of his neck and looked up. “How about one week?” Keith suggested, his eyes trailing back to Lance. 

“What do you mean, ‘one week’?” 

“I mean, we wait one week til after the little abomination is born to make a decision. By then you’ll realize what a mistake this is, and they’ll still be at a good age to be adopted.” Keith explained. 

Lance blinked, letting the idea process inside his head. “One: our child is not an abomination-” 

“Close enough.” 

“And two-” Lance continued a little louder, a little peeved at being cut off, but not letting it deter him. “That’s not a bad idea.” 

Keith stepped forward as Lance stood up, the two of them looking at each other square on. “So do we have a deal?” Keith asked, outstretching his hand as if it was a formal agreement. 

Lance nodded, shaking Keith’s hand. “Deal.” he responded. “Now please hug me, because it’s really hard to be mad at you, even if it has to happen.” 

Keith gave a half smile, cupping Lance’s cheek. “No.” He responded with a grin, walking away.

Lance squawked, them huffed, crossing his arms. “The nerve of that mullet.” he tsked, rolling his eyes. “Pidge, remind me again why I mated him.”

“I dunno, something about his body or whatever.” Pidge snickered, sharing a humorous look with Hunk.

Hunk followed Lance’s line of sight, which was definitely pointed at Keith’s rear. “Yeah, pretty much.” Lance replied, giving a soft smile. “How’s the whole calculations going for the portal?” he asked, looking at a keypad of numbers that he didn’t quite understand.” 

“Not so hot honestly.” Pidge said, shaking her head in disappointment. “Slav’s been trying to give Hunk and I a crash course in interdimensional theory, but there’s only so much we can predict. This could take weeks, maybe even months to get the math right. Lotor’s trying to push us, but we need all the proper data before we even think about slicing into a quintessence, or we might literally collapse everything around us.” Hunk nodded, remembering that lecture. It was frightening really, a big sword coupled with interdimensional travel could spell doom for the entire universe. 

Pidge went on to explain to Lance that they were going to go to the entrance point to do scans of the area. Hunk had been a little hesitant, especially with all of Slav’s talk of “collapsing reality as we know it”. He was surprised that they had even talked Slav into helping them in the first place. 

“Okay, but bro to bro, isn’t this like- a super bad idea?” Lance asked, putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t know about you, but this sounds like one hell of a risk for a pay off of energy or whatever the quiznack quintessence is.” 

Hunk shrugged, blowing some of his bangs that were getting in his face away. “Getting energy sources have always been a grey area in humankind. I mean, look at what we did to the earth because we just had to have fossil fuels.” 

“Yeah, but we’re the frontmen in this whole operation. We can stop this before it gets bad, which I’m just putting it out there, it most definitely will.” Lance said, jutting out a hip as he shifted his stance. 

“Relax Lance, that’s why we’re running the numbers.” Pidge said, tapping at her computer screen for emphasis. “This is going to be done right, with Voltron, and Lotor’s ship.” 

Lance sighed, putting his hand on his belly, probably getting kicked again by his child. “Okay, but I’m warning you: this has to be done right, or not at all.” He sat down, laying back in his seat. “I know I shouldn’t worry so much, I swear I trust you guys… I just don't trust Lotor.” 

“Yeah, I get it, Lotor’s kinda sketchy.” Hunk replied, “But we got this. Pidge is the smartest girl I know, and together, we’ll figure it out.” 

“Person.” Pidge interjected with a smirk, “Pidge is the smartest person you know. Not just out of girls.” 

Hunk laughed, ruffling Pidge’s hair as she let out a small squeak. “Yeah yeah, you double modulating weirdo.” 

“How do you two get along so well?” Lance asked, looking back and forth to Pidge and Hunk. “Keith and I can barely go weeks without something coming up, and then you guys… Well I’ve never seen you fight.” 

Hunk snorted, looking over at Pidge, and then Lance. “Oh we fight alright. We just mostly keep it between us. You and Keith are just a little more… passionate?” 

“Drama Kings are more like it.” Pidge teased. “As long as you’re happy with each other, I guess it’s not too bad.” 

Lance nodded, understanding what his friends were saying. “Yeah, we are happy with each other- or at least I am. I hope Keith is happy.”

“I’m sure he is.” Hunk said, giving Lance a smile. They may have a ways to go in agreeing with each other, but hopefully by the time they came to the decision about their baby, they would be on the same page. 


	12. Everything Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A keystone chapter in a monologue that is team Voltron's lives.

It took a few phoebs till they were ready to go. Lance of course was in the castle control room, sitting down, because at this point he was nearly ready to pop. He had a big belly, bigger than what seemed normal- though they had nothing else to gauge it with. His hands were resting on his bump, and leaning back as much as his seat would allow- which wasn’t much, damn those non-adjustable altean chairs. 

“Maybe we should wait another month.” Keith said, nervously looking over at Lance. He had been more and more on edge as Lance’s due date came closer, and today was no exception. 

“Relax mullet, I’m pregnant, not dying. You’re so emotional I bet you’re going to cry when the baby comes.” Lance muttered, tapping the armrest of his chair. He had vocalized many a time that he couldn’t wait till this was over, so that Keith would stop babying him. Hunk honestly couldn’t blame Keith, given how infuriatingly selfless Lance was, always wanting to do things himself. Lance just liked to prove himself, even if it was dangerous to his health. 

Keith let out a long sigh, walking over, if only to ruffle Lance’s hair, making the omega squeak. “I’m not going to cry you weirdo. It’s just… I want to be there for you.” 

“As sweet of a sediment that is-” Lotor said, looking at the couple with shifty eyes. “I would like us to stay on schedule. It’s been long enough as of now.” 

Words said so eloquently often need to be looked at in a dubious manner. In Hunk’s mind, alarm bells were sounding, but he didn’t have it in him to give a warning to his friends. They trusted this man, especially Allura, who was giving goo goo eyes at the other altean. 

“So I guess it’s decided. Team, let’s suit up.” Shiro said, giving the go ahead to get to their lions- or in Lotor’s case, a ship of his own design. 

Hunk patted Yellow’s control panel. Sometimes he could almost see his ship as a real lion- a cuddly big guy that purred in the back of his mind, like the steady hum of a well oiled machine. In a way Yellow was both: the mighty lion, and a machine of great power. They were quite a pair, just the two of them. 

Yellow expressed his concerns as they launched off into space. It wasn’t like they were talking exactly, but ideas that weren’t Hunk’s own fed into Hunk’s brain, and he could properly identify that they were Yellow’s. “Relax, I know you’re scared… I am too.” Hunk vocalized, before turning on the communication lines. 

And then they were off. These mighty weapons of mass destruction, turning into one even mightier weapon of mass destruction, all at Shiro’s command. Lotor’s own beast was next to them, looking smaller, but not by much, and purple- what was it with galras and purple? It’s not like humans painted everything tan. 

“So, remember, it has to be cut at a 56 degree angle for optimal entrance.” Pidge said, mostly to Keith, because he was the arm with the sword, though in a way they were all the sword- it was kind of weird when voltron was formed; they all had a placement physically, but they could feel everyone’s area of control. 

“Got it.” Keith said, taking out the sword. Hunk turned on the comms, seeing Lance with Coran at the castle. 

Lance was biting one of his knuckles, probably nervous about how this whole thing would turn out. “Be careful guys.” He said in a soft voice, shifting in his seat, now leaning forward. Hunk couldn’t help but notice Lance shutting his eyes tight for a little bit. He didn’t say anything, mostly because he didn’t want to distract Keith. 

They were able to enter the portal second, right after Lotor. Lotor took a deep breath in, a smile that almost looked demented coming on his face. “Yes… YES!” he said, and Hunk could see in his eyes, the wild look of someone that was unhinged. Lotor drew his sword, and in that moment, Hunk had realized they quiznacked up. 

“Lotor...?” Allura said, her voice shaky. Hunk felt bad for her. She had trusted him, maybe even loved him. 

“I would enjoy the formalities of partnership with Voltron, but you see, the future is now.” Lotor said, swinging his sword into voltron’s side, which Pidge found it hard to deflect. There was just so much raw power behind it. “You care too much about weakling races that were meant to fall. The only way for civilization to advance is to merge ourselves with the technology of today and thrive on what is most powerful and pure!"   


Pidge grunted, pushing her shield forward. “Wow, nazi much? That sounds exactly like eugenics- or transhumanism, if you will.” 

Lotor looked a little confused, obviously not sure what a nazi was, but barreled foward at lightning speed, pushing Voltron back. They were now in the quintessence dimension and… it felt empowering. There was no tiredness, there was no doubt, there was only passion, and the need to fight. 

The back and forth between the two of them was like the battle of gods. They had abilities, things that they had never thought were possible just coming to them naturally, like a sick ass video game where you level up during a boss battle. 

“Guys. GUYS!” Oh, and Lance was on the comms… “Don’t you see what’s happening?” he said, his face twisting up like he was holding something back. “The quintessence is causing you to lose your mind. You need to get back.” 

“But Babe-” Keith started to say. 

“No, you don’t understand, you really need to clear your head and come back. Now.” 

Keith sighed, turning off connection to Lotor, cause honestly he just looked fucking insane, and that’s his problem now. “Shiro?” he asked, looking to him for guidance. 

“He’s… he’s right. It’s time to tap out.” Shiro decided. They left the realm of crazy, only to realize that there were several holes now, all slowly getting bigger. 

Hunk looked out there with wide eyes. “Did we… did we do that?” he asked.

Pidge nodded with a sigh. “The fighting must’ve caused a disturbance between both realities. We need to close the gaps, or the whole universe may be in jeopardy.” 

“I’ll take 200 for how we’re going to close this portal.” Lance joked, because he was nervous, and jokes were something that eased it.

Coran made a thoughtful face, and then sighed. “I may have an idea… but I’m not going to like it.” 

The idea was this: destroy the castle. If it collapsed in on itself, it would cause all the portals to close from the disturbance to the space/time field. Not only would it stop the dimension rip, it would trap Lotor in his own heaven turned hell. 

They tried to move all their possessions into their lions as quickly as they could, Kaltenecker being the biggest hassle, but Lance absolutely had to save her, so he pushed and grunted, eventually getting him inside Red. 

“Did you… pee your pants trying to get her in?” Keith asked, looking down at Lance’s maternity pants that he had gotten via space mall.

“Nah, just spilled some water, it’s- humph- it’s all good here.” Lance responded. 

Hunk’s head snapped over to the couple. Quiznack. That was his water breaking wasn’t it… Well, maybe they had time, after all, babies took a while to be born. They had more pressing issues to attend to, and Keith freaking out wouldn’t help. Lance was probably right in keeping it a secret for now. 

A couple ticks later, they were ready to leave the castle, Coran setting up the self destruction button- or rather, making all the settings go into unstable modes so it would collapse, but a self destruction button sounded both funnier and cooler. 

They flew away, watching the castle explode from afar in a fiery display. Hunk tried not to cry, but that castle… it had become his home. Soon enough the waterworks came trickling down his cheeks, and he couldn’t even see if anyone else was crying or not. Yellow took control, following after the pack. They were heading to earth, where hopefully they could get the blueprints to make a new castle. In their hearts they knew it would never be the same, but at least they could try. 

“Sh-shiro?” Keith said, Hunk wiping his eyes to see a much more pale than usual Keith. “Lance is in labor.” 

“Keith, babe, don’t freak out, thousands of omegas have kids every single- FUCK- every single day.” Lance was panting, that much Hunk could hear. 

Keith looked back at Lance, his worry lines definitely showing at the moment. “Yeah, but most have doctors, or at least someone who knows about birth.” 

“There’s a baby inside me, someone checks to see if the head is coming out, I push, baby successfully transferred into the world while it hurts like a- FUCKIN B-bitch. What more do we need to know?” Lance asked. 

“Isn’t there like a placenta too that needs to be passed?” Pidge asked, a little less, but close enough to being as unsure as the rest of them. “I heard about it in a comedy sketch, so it might be made up, but that’s all I’ve got.” 

Lance was heard gasping in the background, which probably wasn’t good, given how far apart the contractions must be. “W-whatever. I’ll live. Keith, turn off the video, I need to take off my pants.” 

“But L-” 

“NOW.” 

In any other context, that might’ve sounded dirty, but obviously, one could not give birth with their pants on. Keith turned off the video, as instructed, but the audio was still on. Hunk didn’t quite know what to do, just sitting in shock in front of the comms. “It’s going to be alright.” He said, although they didn’t quite know if it was. There weren't any healing pods with them, all decimated with the castle. 

They landed on a nearby abandoned planet, because that’s all they really could do as of now, Keith needing to help Lance give birth. All of them could agree that they were glad that they weren’t Keith. To be fair, Keith had already been up close and personal with Lance’s business end so that worked in the argument that if it was anyone, it had to be Keith. Coran might’ve helped, but in all honesty he was only the ship’s medic because he knew how the technology on the castle worked, and that was the extent of his knowledge. He was an engineer and advisor, not a doctor.

It was awkward and nerve wracking, hearing Lance scream and curse, with no way to help besides sit and let it happen. It wasn’t till Hunk heard baby screams that he was able to let out a sigh of relief. “Oh my god- is that-” Pidge started to say, cutting herself off.

“Yeah.” Keith said, letting out a small laugh. “It’s little Isabella Kogane.” he said, and some sniffles could be heard on the comms. 

“Are you crying?” Hunk asked with a snide smile. 

More presumably Keith sniffles occurred, and Hunk could imagine him trying to wipe away tears. “No… I- I said I wasn’t going to cry! She’s just-” 

Lance had to interject. “Keith- I think that placenta thing is coming out!” he exclaimed. 

Shuffling noises could be heard as Hunk prepared himself to listen to more of the miracle of life. “Not a placenta! Not a placenta!” Keith yelled, making Hunk worry. 

“Then what they fuck am I pushing out?!” Lance groaned. 

“A… Another baby.” Keith said, probably shocking everyone who was listening. 

Hunk’s mind was reeling, and he could only imagine what it was doing to Lance. Everyone just sat in shocked silence, before Pidge whispered, “What the fuuuuuck.” More baby screams came out of the comm system. The next time Lance said there was more, it was most definitely a placenta, and that was a relief to all of team voltron. 

The next baby they named Leia, and she was just as beautiful as the other one. Still the question remained: what were they to do now?


	13. Something Old, Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the world little Isabella and Leia. I feel sorry for the lot of you.

It wasn’t till a bit later that Hunk was able to see the two children. Everyone had crowded at the entrance to Red in order to see the babies. They were rather tanned, much like Lance’s complexion, but had the darkest black hair like Keith’s. It seemed to be a miracle that one of them had a birthmark on the corner of their right eye. That one was Isabella, and was currently being held by Keith. 

Hunk peeked over at the couple, and then down at the children. “Wow, you did good Lance.” He said with a smile. 

“Yeah… twice the fun… yipee…” Lance said, sighing shortly after. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I mean… I’m just tired, you know?” He said, giving a faint smile. 

Leia started to move her head to nibble at Lance’s shirt. She was getting it wet with her spit, and it was kind of adorable. Lance blushed, looking down at the tiny child. “Oh, I guess she’s hungry.” He said, carefully slipping Leia under his shirt. Omegas often could lactate regardless of their first gender, and Lance was lucky for that, given that they had no formula on hand. 

“They’re absolutely adorable.” Allura gushed, smiling at the children. “May I hold one?” she pleaded with wide eyes. 

Keith reluctantly passed Isabella over, with a non-committal “Yeah sure.” His knee bounced, nervous about giving the child to anyone besides Lance and himself. It was just an alpha thing- maybe even a general parent thing. 

Allura laughed, booping Isabella’s nose. “Who’s a cute little baby?” 

“She is quite a beauty.” Coran budded in, looking over Allura’s shoulder. “Both of them actually.” 

They ooed and awed at the tiny children before settling in on the barren planet, making a campfire. Lance stayed far away from it, swadling the twins so they could still stay warm. He wanted them to be warm, but he didn’t trust his babies around a fire- not that they were anywhere close to being able to fall in. 

Coran had taken out these things that he was roasting on the fire, and honestly, Hunk had no idea what they were- maybe altean style marshmallows? “What are those?” he asked, always wanting to learn about food from different cultures. 

“These are figgans, a type of sugary sweet that are great toasted.” Coran explained. Ah, so they were altean marshmallows. Keith took out a blanket, putting it on the floor for him and Lance to sit on. Lance placed Isabella and Leia on the blanket, both of them squirming a little, but at least they weren’t crying. 

“So… thoughts on keeping the babies?” Hunk asked, knowing that this would come up eventually. He could tell that that question weighed heavily in everyone’s mind. 

“We can’t keep both of them; it’s just not rational.” 

“Babe, come on, look at their tiny little faces!”

One would assume that Keith was the first statement, and Lance was the latter, but no, not at all, in fact, Keith had become a major proponent for keeping his children. It was almost comical, the way that script had completely flipped. 

Lance sighed, picking up Isabella, because he had lacked giving her affection before, and probably felt guilty about it. “I don’t know Keith… I can handle one pup, but two? It’s a whole different ballpark.” 

Keith’s lips pursed, and Hunk could detect the faintest bit of a sigh. “How are we even going to pick which one to give away? It’s not fair to judge and compare them when they’re so little.” 

“So we’ll do it at random, no harm, no foul.” Lance suggested. Hunk’s eyes darted between the two. He understood their concerns, but it was sort of weird watching his friends plan giving away a child. 

“But Lance… I think we can do this, with both of them.” Keith said. “I think I kind of fell in love with both of them.” 

“Ay dios mio…” Lance muttered under his breath. It was unexpected, the way things had turned out. “One week. That’s still the agreement. We’ll see in a week how much work it is to take care of these two little trouble makers.” 

Leia started to squeal, not crying, but just trying out her voice. “Hey there little cutie.” Keith said, picking up Leia. He smiled, watching his daughter move her mouth. “She has your little button nose Lance.” he observed. “Mine’s more straight, but yours is more upturned, just like Isabella’s.” 

Lance’s eyes darted over to Isabella’s nose. “Huh… I guess you’re right.” He said, “Their eyes are also blue like mine, but that might change as they get older.” he supplied. 

Hunk was glad that the two of them could just talk about their children. Keith was luckily doting over his new kids, and Lance had a bit of love for them as well. They spent the night all around the campfire, even when the babies started to get fussy later into the night. 

“I’m sorry guys…” Lance muttered, patting Leia’s back as he tried to calm her down. “Maybe we should take them to Red so the rest of you can enjoy your night.” he suggested. 

“Alright, but if you need anything, we’re right here for you.” Shiro said with a smile. They watched the new family leave, and Shiro let out a drawn out sigh. “Twins…” he said, rubbing his own neck, and looking up at the sky. “I bet Adam would love to hear this story.” 

Hunk cocked his head, patting Shiro’s back. “Adam?” He asked curiously. 

Shiro blushed, biting his lip. “Yeah, my uh… My fiancé- or ex... I don’t talk about him too much, just because it’s painful. We didn’t leave on very good terms.” 

“Woah.” Pidge said, holding onto Hunk’s hand. “You should meet up with him again. I’m sure it was a misunderstanding.” 

“I’m dying… or I was dying, at this point I’m not sure what the empire did to me to have me live this long. I went to space thinking I wasn’t going to come back for very long.” Shiro explained. “It really hurt Adam, and he told me that if I left, he wouldn’t wait around for me… and I left.” 

“Maybe he did wait. Maybe he still loves you.” Pidge said, leaning onto Hunk. Hunk put his arm around Pidge, thinking about how he would feel if he had to leave Pidge- not so good, if he were to put it lightly. 

Allura nodded, placing a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “In any case, Shiro’s always been hot, as one might say. I’m sure any man would be lucky to have him.” 

They stayed up for a little longer, the conversation becoming more light hearted. They didn’t stay up too late, but Hunk decided to take one last check up on the McClain-Kogane family before he finally hit the hay. He went into Red, almost immediately hearing crying as he walked in. 

“Hey Lance, the rest of us are going to bed, I just wanted to say goodnight.” Hunk supplied, giving a smile. 

Lance looked up, his own smile looking weary and worn. “Thanks man… this is going to be one quiznack of a night.”

“You’re not using that word correctly.” Keith budded in, turning around while softly bouncing Leia. 

“Oh hush, I’m not in the mood for the altean grammar police.” Lance responded, waving his hand dismissively. 

Hunk went to Yellow, only to find Pidge inside, waiting for him. “Can I sleep with you?” she asked meekly, and god Hunk found that adorable. 

“Yeah, sure, just let me get into my pajamas.” Hunk said, going over to a storage bin that had been hastily packed into Yellow. Yellow purred, and Hunk could feel the lion smirking a little. Hunk told Yellow to be quiet. 

After Hunk had gotten into his pajamas, Pidge snuggled with Hunk under the covers, and clung tight to the other beta. “Do you think we’ll ever have a family like Keith and Lance?” Hunk asked. 

Pidge was quiet for a couple seconds, thinking it over. “Well… not immediately, but yeah, I could see something like that in the future… Do you ever think about doing… it?” she countered. 

Hunk’s eyes widened. He had never had sex, not once in his small life in this universe. “Well… I guess there’s no harm in trying- with protection of course- we are not going down the baby road this soon.” 

“Take off my shirt. Please.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm taking a poll: do you want a Punk sex scene, or would you rather I skim it over? I'm fine with either.


	14. Ay-Sexual: When you can't stop being a dude-bro during sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so thanks to the poll, I found very little people want a Punk sex scene, so I incorporated the feedback into making this chapter. I am happy with what I made, and it allows for more representation, so that's good.

Okay, so sex really didn’t go down the way they had planned. Pidge started crying before Hunk had even gotten his pants off. “Pidgey, what’s wrong?” Hunk asked, patting her back. 

“I- I… I want to do this for you but… I’m not ready.” She sniffled. 

Hunk’s face softened, tilting up her chin. “I don’t care about sex.”

Pidge crossed her arms covering her bra up as she did so. “Psh, yeah right. That’s all guys ever think about.” she said, her face heating up. 

“Okay, that’s so not true. I really don’t care, like I'm honest to God!” Hunk protested. 

“Well what if I never want to go there! Then what will you think!?” Pidge exclaimed, before her eyes widened at her own confession. She put her hand on her mouth, the cold air on her skin making her shiver.

Hunk froze, trying to process what Pidge was saying. “So, you’re asexual?” he asked, barely believing the words that came from his mouth. What did that mean for them? Hunk loved Pidge, but there was a lot to think of with the revelation. He had always been the traditional marriage kind of guy- not that he would ever force that on someone else, but that was just what he had hoped for himself. 

Pidge nodded, biting her lip as she went for her shirt, slipping it back on. “I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot… I was never lying when I said I loved you but- well… not in the way you thought I did. Not the sexual way.” 

“It’s alright.” Hunk didn’t know if he was lying or not. “You wanna sleep here still?” 

“Yeah, if you’re okay with it.” 

That night, Hunk fell asleep with a heavy heart, wondering what this meant for him and Pidge. Actually, no, he didn’t fall asleep. Pidge did, bless her little heart. She looked so cute sleeping, snuggled up in the blankets. 

Maybe Hunk could just be happy with Pidge without the sex… He decided to call Lance, because there might be a chance that he was up. 

He was met with a very groggy Lance, who was holding Leia in his arms. Leia was crying something fierce, protesting the idea of going to bed. “Hunk? I thought you were asleep?” Lance said in disbelief, his brows knit together. 

“Nah, I couldn’t… how are Keith and the twins?” Hunk asked, looking around at what the screen was displaying. 

“Little fuckers won’t fall asleep.” Lance muttered, looking back at Keith who was still rocking Isabella. Isabella wasn’t very grateful for being rocked, crying just as hard as Leia was. 

Keith huffed, his gaze turning up to Lance. “Don’t call them that. I am not teaching my children to swear.” He stated. 

Lance rolled his eyes. “They’re babies, they won’t be learning to talk for like- months or something? Point is, I’ll curse so long as I have to wear this bulky diaper.”

“Diaper?” Hunk said in surprise. 

“Yeah, I’m still bleeding down there. It’s something that happens when you give birth.” Lance said, as if it was no big deal. “Anyways, Hunk, get to sleep, while you and Pidge don’t have kids.” 

Hunk gulped, his eyes triling off to the side. “Uhm… well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about…” He said, getting up from the bed and moving away from Pidge. “You can keep a secret, right?” 

Lance’s jaw dropped. “No. I didn’t even realize you and Pidge did it!” Lance said in a pitchy voice. 

“No! Not like that!” Hunk yell-whispered. “It’s… it’s kinda the opposite. Pidge told me she’s asexual.” 

“Oh… man, that’s gotta suck.” Lance said, patting Leia’s back, as she burped up some milk onto his shoulder. Given the way Lance didn’t even bat an eye, she must’ve done that before. “What’re you gonna do?” 

Hunk grew quiet, looking back at sleeping Pidge. “Well… I love her. I think this is one of those ‘I’d do anything for you’ kind of moments, and I’m willing to be there for her.” 

Lance chuckled, impressed with his friend’s devotion to his girlfriend. “I think you made up your mind a long time ago.” 

“Lance! Isa’s chewing on my shirt again!” Keith called out from the other side of the room. 

“Ugh-” Lance sighed, pinching the bring of his nose. “Sorry Hunk, I gotta go feed Isabella… the hungry little fucker…” he whispered the last part, so as to not upset Keith. 

“That’s alright. Good luck Lance, bye.” Hunk turned off the call, putting his phone away, and snuggling back in bed with Pidge. There were a lot of things to think about when it came to Pidge and what they had discussed. She was younger than him, so it might very well be that she just wasn’t ready, but Hunk knew that Pidge was very mature for her age, even fooling the Garrison when she had applied. This could just be a reality that Hunk had to stop trying to overthink. 

He let his mind go to rest, pulling the other beta close to him. Maybe he just needed that sleep to collect all his thoughts. 

The next day was sounded by the alarm that was linked up by all the lions. It was still dark out- probably because the planet had a different rotation pattern than earth or altea, but it really messed with his ability to get up. Pidge poked his cheek, obviously more awake than Hunk was. “Hunk, wake up time.” she snorted, nudging him a little more. 

Hunk sat up, stretching and yawning as he did so. “Alright, alright, I’m up.” He said, mid-yawn. He was always the one to make meals, not because he had to, but because he rather do that than have to stomach Coran’s space goo, and breakfast was no exception. “What do you want for breakfast, eggs and hash browns, or breakfast burritos?” He asked, turning over to Pidge.

“Uuuuh eggs and hash browns?” she decided, though it probably was more of a shot in the dark. “I didn’t know there were chickens in space.” 

“Not really, just a couple of egg tasting ingredients that can be cooked to look like green eggs.” 

Pidge snickered, folding up the blanket they were using. “Green eggs and ham? But I do not like them Sam-I-am.” she teased. 

Pidge was actually a semi-decent help in the kitchen. Sure, she didn’t know many of the names for each kitchen thing she used, but she learned quickly, never having to be told something more than once. It wasn’t long before they were walking out of Yellow, and sending over plates of food. 

They waited to go to Red last, knowing that Keith and Lance must’ve been exhausted. They found the couple sleeping in the nest Lance had made, with Isabella and Leia right in between them. Hunk placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, lightly shaking him. 

“Lance? I have breakfast for you and Keith.” Hunk said, placing the food down on the cubby, so it wouldn’t be accidentally sat on or anything like that. 

Lance shifted in his position, before slowly opening his eyes. He had bags underneath them, but nevertheless he got up. “Oh thank god, they’re asleep.” Lance whispered, slowly getting out of the nest. “I’ll wake up Keith in an hour or so. He was up even later than I was.” He said, still using a low voice so as to not wake the babies. “When are we going to get a move on?” 

“Shiro says one varga till lift off.” Pidge supplied. “Good luck.” 

One hour till lift off, but in all the shuffle, no one noticed a purple ship approaching the planet. It was coming in fast, and no one would have guessed what was to come. 


	15. Everything Stays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dear lord, I know this is short, but finals wiped me out. Idk how my fingers are still able to type haha. 
> 
> Merry Christmas, or happy holidays from me, to all ya'll.

Hunk was all dressed in his clothes when Yellow had allerted him about something approaching on the sonars. It was barely enough time for him to get outside with his bayard, along with Shiro, Pidge, and Allura. Lance had wanted to come as well, but Hunk had convinced him that his family needed him. 

The ship looked galran, that signature purple, but it didn’t have the empire’s designs on it, so it was possibly Mamoran? Mammory? Hunk didn’t know the proper term for things related to the Blade of Mamora. 

It landed on the planet’s surface, dust kicking up as it settled in. A figure appeared through the windyness of dust, dramatic as ever. It was a galran woman, with a resting bitch face reminiscent of a certain paladin he knew. 

The stranger revealed herself to be Krolia, a blade member who had been dead sent of recovering voltron. “I honestly hadn't expected to find you all alive. It’s been a whole decaphoeb since the mysterious disappearance of Voltron.” 

“What do you mean ‘disappearance’? We were only gone for a couple quintants at most.” Pidge asked. 

It was then that it was revealed that they had been gone for over a decaphoeb. That startled the team to their core. It must’ve been something related to closing the dimensional rift, keeping them unbound from the constraints of time, somehow skipping the natural order of things. 

“How did you even know where to find us?” Coran asked, just as everyone was probably wondering. 

Krolia sighed, pushing some of her hair behind her ear. “I’ve been tailing voltron for a while. The truth is, my son was a teammate of yours. From the looks of it, he’s no longer with us…” 

“Oh my god. You’re Keith’s mom!” Pidge exclaimed, pointing at Krolia. Hunk’s eyes bugged out. That’s why she looked so familiar! “You’ve got the wrong idea- Keith’s still alive, he’s just ah- watching his children in Red with his mate.” 

It was Krolia’s turn to be in shock. “I… can I see them?” she asked. 

They walked over to Red, Hunk hoping that Keith wasn’t still asleep. That would be a rather rude awakening. Luckily, Keith was up, albeit still in his robe, cradling Lila in his arms. He looked up giving a quizzical look. “Guys? Who’s this?” he asked. Lance was holding Isabella, and walked closer to Keith, letting him be the human shield. 

Krolia cleared her throat, her hand suspiciously close to her knife, which Keith noticed, making him tense up. “I am Krolia. Krolia… Kogane.” She said, a small blush hinting at her cheeks. 

“You’re… you’re a Kogane?” Keith asked curiously. 

“She’s your mom dumbass.” Pidge called out, making Hunk elbow her hard enough that she squeaked- not that it would take much to get Pidge to squeak, it never did. 

Keith grew rigid, his pupils dilating, as they flashed past Krolia’s facial features. “You. I-” He paused, taking in a deep breath of air. He turned away, settling Lila down in the nest. She immediately noticed the change that was brought upon her, crying, unintentionally adding more stress to the situation. “Lance, please watch Lila… I have to have a word with… Krolia.” First name usage. Ouch, that had to hurt. 

They both left Red, hopefully to sort out their differences. Lance sighed, placing Isabella next to Lila, and then picking up Lila as to comfort her. “I don’t think this is going to go down well. I love Keith, but since the day I met him, he practically radiated mommy issues.” Lila was still fussing, but at a lower decibel, so that was a lot better than before. 

“Maybe he’ll give her a chance.” Coran supplied, trying to be positive. 

Shiro merely shrugged. “He’s been hurt a lot of times in the past, especially with role models and parental figures in general. I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“This is just too much.” Lance said, definitely giving off that worse for wear vibe. “First the castle goes kaboom, then twins, and now this?” 

Hunk patted Lance’s back. “Have you and Keith talked about what to do with the twins?” 

Lance threw back his head, groaning. “Don’t even get me started. I suggested just choosing one of them at random, but Keith’s too attached. I… I’m not even sure I like either of them, much less both.” He confessed. 

“Lance-” Hunk started to cut in, worried for his friend.

“I know. I’m a terrible father. It just comes to Keith so naturally, and me... I don’t feel anything worthwhile.” 

Allura was surprisingly the first to step in. “Lance. The very fact that you’re still trying despite your turbulent feelings is a testament to you as a person, and a father. You could’ve ducked out at any time, left us, but you didn’t. You’re here, and still comforting your children, despite all that has occurred.” 

“I couldn’t have said it any better princess.” Coran said with a smile. “Lance may be number three of the paladins height, but he’s number one in my book.” 

“I thought _I_ was your favorite!” Pidge squawked, though she ended up bursting into laughter, as she couldn’t keep a straight face. 

They didn’t know what would happen with Keith, or if Lance would ever find a connection with his children, but they could laugh for now, even in the roughest moments, because that was what life was, no matter how shitty the year felt. It’s good to find solace in friends, or a family, blood related or not. So they would get through this, or go down kicking and screaming. 

Happy holidays, 2020. 


	16. Fighting for Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what to say lol

“Oh my god.” 

They apparently let Keith and Krolia go too soon, because they were currently duking it out with swords. Hunk immediately activated his bayard, but then Keith yelled out, “No! This is my fight.” 

Hunk just stood there, unsure of what was going on. 

“Just let me be there for you!” Krolia said, her sword clashing with Keith’s. Dear lord- Krolia was _exactly_ like Keith. 

Keith grunted, his blade sliding down as their weapons pressed against each other. “Nice try, but you should’ve done that years ago, so I think I can handle myself.” 

Krolia huffed, giving extra force to her blade, and kicked Keith to the ground. “Fine. You don’t want a mother, I can deal with that. However, I think you could use a soldier, and I want to know my grandchildren.” 

“Fine.” 

“Fine.” Krolia outstretched her hand to try to help Keith up. 

He pushed it away, and stood up on his own accord. “I’m watching you Krolia. I’ve had enough people lie to me to last a lifetime, so don’t think I’ll be too slow to question bulshit. You can ride with Lance and I, unless you want to ride in your own spacecraft.” 

Hunk sighed, just glad that they weren’t physically fighting anymore. “Shiro says we're leaving in a half varga. Please don’t kill each other in the meantime.” He went on his way, checking behind him once more, just as a precautionary method, invented specifically for his hotheaded and impulsive friends. 

Pidge was waiting for him in Yellow, adjusting her glasses on her face in the mirror. “Did they kill each other?” she asked nonchalantly. 

“No, not yet…” Hunk replied, cleaning up his makeshift kitchen in Yellow. It wasn’t a _kitchen_ kitchen, but he had amassed a couple supplies that made it work in a similar manner. Bunsen burner for a stove, a mini fridge, small pots and pans- so yeah, kind of like a kitchen. “Keith seemed really upset. Do you think one of us should talk to him?” 

“By ‘us’ I think you mean you and- no. Let the whole thing lie for now. This is kind of one of those things you shouldn’t mess with, you know?” She explained. 

Hunk nodded, getting where Pidge was coming from. There was just so much drama surrounding Lance and Keith, and Hunk was a naturally sensitive person. Seeing people hurting… that just wasn’t something Hunk liked to stand by and watch. 

They finally took to the skies after everyone was accounted for. Krolia did choose to abandon her own ship, in favor of joining Lance and Keith in Red. Hunk stayed on screen to check in on the family as they went along on their road trip. Keith chose to drive, probably to avoid his mother, forcing Lance and Krolia to interact as they worked together to care for the pups. 

“The one with the birthmark next to her eye is Isabella, and the other is Lila.” Lance explained, picking up Lila from the nest. 

“They are beautiful children.” Krolia said with a smile. 

Lance blinked, as if that thought never crossed his mind. “Oh. Yeah, I guess they are.” he said, and then cleared his throat. “Well, I’m still trying to figure out a schedule for them, right now they just cry and I have to figure out what’s wrong.” he explained. “Oh, the reminds me- diaper check.” he pulled on the hem of Lila’s diaper, looking down to see if it was soiled or not. “Yup, this one needs to be changed.” 

He laid Lila down, and went for the diapers and wipes needed to change Lila’s diaper. Lila kicked, but didn’t cry- thank goodness for that. 

“So… Keith. How are ya doing?” Hunk asked, diverting his attention from Krolia and Lance to Keith.

Hunk had never seen a more critical anger filled deadpan from Keith in his life. “How does it look like I’m doing?” Keith asked sarcastically. “She appears out of nowhere and wants to act like it’s no big deal.” He said it loudly, so as to show his disdain for Krolia’s existence. 

“I left to fight for you.” Krolia said in a soft voice. “My whole plan was to make sure you were never involved in such an awful war.” 

Lance snorted. “Huh, leaving to fight in a war for the people you love. That sounds very familiar.” 

Keith turned around, glaring at Lance. “Fine, so there’s some similarities. Still, I left for a year at most. My mother left for my entire childhood.” 

Krolia looked at Keith with a soft, saddened face. “I didn’t realize how long I would be. It started out as one phoeb, and then one more. I kept telling myself it was so close, till I was too deep to realize the hole I had dug myself into.” 

Keith grew silent, and the silence hung in an awful, thickly spreaded way. Lance had just finished changing Lila, and was off to check Isabella’s diaper. Isabella’s was probably fine, because once Lance checked, he didn’t make a move to change her diaper. 

“Alright. I get it.” Keith finally said, sucking in a deep breath of air. He stretched, yawning a little, probably because of the long night that they had.

“Was it hard to leave?” Lance asked in a quieter voice. 

Krolia turned over to Lance. “What?” she asked, surprised by Lance’s question. 

Lance bit his lip, looking away. “I mean… did you have a hard time leaving Keith, or was it easy to make your decision?” 

“I… I admit, I had trouble connecting with Keith as a pup.” Krolia confessed. “It was easy to leave, but then, when I was finally gone, it hurt. It hurt more than I had ever felt when I was trying to be a mother and failing. So it was a combination, easy to leave, hard to accept that I had actually done  I had actually done it.” 

Lance nodded, clearly listening intently. Hunk recalled the earlier conversation that they had had, where Lance was having trouble with his babies. Maybe this was exactly what Lance needed to hear. Lance pulled Isabella close to him, scenting her a little, as omegas often did with their children- 

Come to think of it, this was the first time Lance had done that with either of the twins. “I’m having trouble too… I want to love them, I just don’t know how.” 

“You’re not even looking at yourself.” Krolia said, a smile tugging at her lips. “You’re caring for them, _loving_ on them, even if it’s hard to identify it.” 

“Lance?” Keith asked, as he was out of the loop on Lance’s feelings towards the twins. “I didn’t know you felt that way.” 

The younger omega blushed, looking away. “I’m trying… I just… I feel depressed. I don’t hate the pups, but- I’m not sure I want them either.” 

Keith bit his lip, his eyes on the path before him, yet they seemed to look beyond the path, beyond the confines of space itself. “We still have the week.” he said, as if it would solve everything. One week probably couldn’t do much in the face of depression- unless one was bipolar, then maybe it would be a different tune. 

One week. “Well, maybe you want to extend the time.” Hunk supplied, trying to help. “After all, we’re kind of in a situation where we’re trying to figure out where we’ll live, not to mention getting back to our families on earth.” 

Lance’s face went as pale as a tan-skinned cuban could get. “My family…” he murmured, and Hunk could see the fear that was instilled inside of him. 

Hunk knew a lot about the McClains, mostly because they were a favorite subject for Lance to talk about. Shouldn’t he be happy to see them? The questions he had were all of a common thread, but Hunk decided that he would find out soon enough. His family seemed nice, and if they were anything like Lance, Keith should be excited to be a part of that family. 

“Alright, we’ll postpone the deadline.” Lance said, shaking himself out of his head, thank goodness for that. Hunk didn’t know if he could handle a fearful Lance, whatever that may be. 

What was there even to fear? 


	17. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm ignoring cannon so suck it Dreamworks!

“I’m bored.” Pidge complained, currently gripping Green’s controls with her monkey-like feet just to break out of the monotonous rhythm of flying the normal way. 

Shiro sighed, eyeing her via telecoms. “We’re travelling across galaxies, so it’s going to take awhile.” 

“I spy, with my little eye-” Lance started to say. 

Pidge cut in saying, “Seriously?”. 

Lance crossed his arms. “You have a better idea?” He said, and when met with no objections continued. “I spy, with my little eye, something black.” 

“Keith’s hair?” Hunk guessed. 

“Nope.” Lance responded, popping the ‘p’. 

Pidge took a shot at it, suggesting the black lion. 

Lance chuckled, shaking his head. “You give up?” 

“Isa and Lila’s hair?” Keith asked, deciding to join the game.    
  
“No and no- technically that was two guesses, but I’ll allow it because you’re cute.” Lance said, his face dropping when he heard crying from his nest. “Speaking of those traviesas... “ he muttered, going over to the nest, and picking up the perpetrator, little Lila, who quickly quieted when Lance scented her. 

Keith raised an eyebrow, looking over at Lance. “You better not be cussing at her in spanish.” he said. “All she wants is for you to love on her.” 

Lance huffed, softly rubbing Lila’s back because he could. “For your information, traviesa is a tame word, almost literally translating to ‘naughty’. My mother would call me that all the time- except it would be ‘travieso’ since I’m a guy.” he explained. “So I would like you to get way off my back on that.” 

“Well it’s not that much of a leap considering how you’ve been acting, I mean-” 

“Space!” Allura cut in loudly, “I get it! The answer to the riddle is space!” 

Lance paused, looking over at Allura. “That’s… that’s actually correct. Congratulations.”

The scene seemed to pause, Allura’s excitement hitting the hostile environment that Keith and Lance had made, like a cold front to a warm front, a calm before a storm, as one would say. 

“Space isn’t even a real object.” Keith said, a little snippy on the matter. He seemed to expect Lance to counter, but… nothing. In fact… Lance was sniffling. 

Lance set Lila back down in the nest, and wiped his nose with his sleeve. Krolia went over to comfort Lance. Hunk could see Keith’s face twisting into a galre, like he was watching them through the camera, but didn’t dare look at them face to face. 

“Keith, your mom’s just trying to be nice.” Hunk said, concerned for his friend. 

Keith looked to the side, his hands gripping at the controls. “I’m not worried about Krolia.” he said in a low voice, like he was trying to avoid the two from hearing him. “Not in the way you think.” 

They rode in silence for the rest of the day.

~~~~~

Night fell on the lions, leaving them to land on a meteor suspending in space. Krolia fell asleep in a sleeping bag, but Lance was in the nest with the babies. Keith knew he was supposed to sleep in there with them, but he felt guilty, making Lance upset but still joining them as if nothing had transgressed between them. 

He sighed, laying behind Lance. “I- I’m sorry for today.” He mumbled, trying not to wake the twins or Krolia. “I was… I was fearful.” 

Lance’s head turned over to Keith, and then his whole body. “Fearful of what?” He asked curiously. He didn’t know what to make of Keith’s demeanor. 

“Well… you shared all that stuff that Krolia could relate to and… well you know what she did.” He said, too choked up to elaborate. It obviously caused him a great deal of pain. 

“Oh babe, I’d never abandon you and the twins like that.” Lance said, cupping Keith’s cheek with his hand. “I mean, I’ve thought about it but-”

Keith’s gaze tightened. “What.” was all he said. 

Lance’s eyes widened. “N-no! I just _thought_ about a little, not like- I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it that way!” he was panicked, trying to say the right words that just weren’t there. 

“No, I get it.” Keith said rather coldly. “Who’d want to stick around for me right? I’m obviously not worth it.”

“Hey, don’t talk that way, you know that’s not what I meant.” Lance countered. “It’s not you-”

Keith scoffed skeptically, “Wow, what a great choice of break up words.” 

Lance’s brows knitted together, looking at Keith a little confused. “I’m not breaking up with you- we’re mates.” 

“That hasn’t stopped people before.” Keith said, sucking in a shaky deep breath of air. 

There was a tension in the air that made Lance feel antsy. He focused his attention to sweeping Keith’s bangs to the side. “I’m here to stay.” he said, using a soft voice.

Keith brought Lance close to him, engulfing the omega in a big hug. “Promise?” He asked.

Lance paused a second too long, making Keith worry. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked that. After all, this was still a problem that Lance was dealing with. 

“I promise to tell you what I’m feeling before I ever think of leaving.” Lance said. 

Okay, so not the best outcome, but it was better than many of the others that Keith could fathom. He kept hugging Lance, like he could keep the hug going forever if he tried. Lance sighed in the hug, trying to push his doubts out of his mind. 

For now, sleep was good, it was all that they had left to do for the night, in fact, it was all they could do.

~~~~

Waking up was hard for Hunk on most days, this one being no exception. Still, this was a special day, the day that they were finally going to get back to earth. They could see it there, the shiny blue and green orb that was their home planet. 

“We’re here.” Hunk murmured, pinpointing the location that was needed to land at the garrison’s. The lions fell into formation, having known the place and time they were to land. 

As they broke through the surface of the atmosphere, a calmness entered Hunk’s mind. He was home. They had already sent word to earth that they were coming, so there was military personnel waiting for them at the landing zone, along with Matt and Mr. Holt, to which Hunk was a little nervous to meet again- after all, he was dating Pidge. 

He put on his best face, smiling as he went to greet the Holts, Pidge latched onto his side. Hunk smiled sheepishly, walking up to the Holts. 

“Now what do you think you’re doing with my sister?” Matt asked, scratching his chin and giving a goofy yet condescending look. 

“Keep it up dipshit, and say goodbye to your kneecaps.” Pidge responded, making Hunk nearly choke on his own spit. 

So the reunion was going great. 

Hunk’s eyes widened as he saw his moms waiting for him over to the side. His mothers rushed at him, enveloping him and accidentally Pidge in the process. 

“Mom, Mama!” Hunk exclaimed, choking up on his own tears. He introduced his mothers to Pidge, so excited that his girlfriend and his family could meet together. Pidge was a little shy about the whole situation, a striking contrast to how she dealt with her own family, though it kind of made sense all and all. 

Meanwhile, Lance was being swarmed by the McClain clan, like bees to honey. Hunk could barely tell what was going on in the fray of things. 

And yet, something seemed off. Hunk noticed that there was a lack of older people surrounding Lance, just kids, the adults that looked like Lance standing away from the group. 

Huh. Kind of weird. 

Keith tried his best to answer the young McClain’s questions, while holding Lila, just as Lance did, except he was holding Isabella. 

Hunk didn’t know what was going on with the adults, but he kept looking over at Lance, who every now and then turned his attention to the older McClains. Something was off, and Hunk was going to find out what. 


	18. Decisions, only some of which were made, and biphobia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's good to be back. Oh and I have finally roughly planned the ending to this book, although I have no idea how many chapters it will take lol.

Things settled down as the greetings were exchanged. Soon it was just team voltron again, settling into the garrison’s rooms, winding down while they could. There was still a lot to do, but for now, rest was something they all needed. Hunk had his own room, but it felt vaguely off with the lack of Pidge there. Still, he wasn’t going to request a room with Pidge, mostly because the Holts were around, and he still wanted to make sure they liked him, which was mostly just his own fears talking. His family had gone now, though some of the other families had lingered even still, like Lance’s mother.

Hunk found himself wandering the halls, not wanting to go to bed just yet. He was just about to round the corner when he heard voices from the next hallway down. 

“Mama, porque no entiendes-” Lance’s voice started to say, before he was cut off.

“Porque te conozco.” Lance’s mother responded swiftly. “And you…” she said in a low whispering tone. “You are not gay. Fin de la historia. I don’t know what this galran said to you-” 

“Keith. His name is Keith.”

“Whatever his name is, I don’t like him. He’s taking advantage of the fact that he was the only alpha around to mate you, and I’m worried for you.” Mrs. McClain put a hand on Lance’s shoulder, trying to seem calm and friendly. “We can fix this. I heard there was studies done on bond reassignments. We can still set you up with Jenny.” 

Lance took a step back, shrugging off his mother’s hand. “I /love/ Keith.” He said in a firm manner. “Jenny’s a nice girl, but she has better things to do than wait around for me.” 

Mrs. McClain was still persistent. “But your children. They need a mother.” she insisted. 

There was a slight pause, as if the two of them were calculating what would win this war of words. Lance was the first to swoop in, if not because of his need to get all he wanted to say in, then maybe because Mrs. McClain was allowing him the floor to later destroy him. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t so sure about the twins, whether it would work out or not, but Mama, this is my life, and Keith’s a part of it now. You just got to get to know him; he’s an amazing mate, and an even better father!” 

“It doesn’t matter how good he is, you’re not gay Lance!” Lance’s mother exclaimed. 

“You’re right. I’m bisexual.” Lance said. “It means I like boys and-” 

Mrs. McClain cut in. “I know what it means Lance. A load of mierda. You’re either gay or you’re not, you’re just trying to convince yourself you can be both.” 

“Fine.” Lance said, his voice cracking. “Then I’m gay. Happy?” 

“But that’s la cosa! You’re not! You’ve talked about girls all your life, not a single boy.” 

Lance ran his fingers through his hair. “Maybe I was too scared to talk about boys to you. You’re not exactly the easiest person to talk to about… gay stuff.” 

Mrs. McClain gasped. “I’m accepting! I watch Queer Eye all the time! It’s you that doesn’t like it.”

“But all you ever do is laugh at them, like… like they’re not people. It made me feel uncomfortable to sit there, like I was just a joke.” 

“Mijito, you are not a joke… but you have to put all this confusion past you. Let’s go to counseling, I’m sure we can sort this out.” Mrs. McClain said, trying a softer tone. 

Lance’s eyes narrowed. “You mean conversion therapy, don’t you?” 

Hunk tried to stay quiet, but it was hard to stay still. He decided that it would be best to leave now. He rushed away, before he could hear anyone’s response, and found himself accidentally running into Pidge, after going a couple halls down. 

“Sorry!” Hunk exclaimed, holding up his hands. He hadn’t meant to run into Pidge, it just sort of happened… a lot more than one would expect. 

Pidge sort of dusted herself off, then looked up at Hunk. “I’m fine, I just… I couldn’t sleep. I guess you felt the same?” 

Hunk chuckled, tugging down his bandana on his head so it stayed on. “Yeah. It’s so different, being alone in a room. I’m not used to it.” 

“You could always join me.” Pidge said with a smirk, looking up at Hunk mischievously. 

Join her… Hunk almost wanted to say yes. However… “Pidge, what about your family? I’m new to them, and suddenly they’ll see we’re sleeping together- not like the- but you know what I mean!” his face was flushed, after all, he cared a great deal about what people thought of him. 

Pidge chuckled, lightly patting Hunk’s hot cheek. “It’s cute how you want to be appropriate for my family.” 

“Well being with you means being with your family too. I know how much you care about them, so I care too.” Hunk explained in a low voice.

“Quit being so perfect, you’re sapping up the halls.”

It was then that Hunk, just looking down at Pidge’s face, came to the striking conclusion that he wanted to marry her. Of course, he wanted to get better acquainted with Pidge’s family, her mother in particular, but… he was definitely going to go searching for a ring. He knew that Keith and Lance never officially got married, but that was Keith and Lance’s choice, and Hunk was a little more traditional in his ways.

((A little side note from the author: You can be traditional and still respect other people’s lives and ways they go about it. Saying you want to be in a same sex relationship and get married in a church doesn’t mean you have to enforce those beliefs on anyone else. This has been my TED Talk haha.))

Pidge did end up sleeping in Hunk’s room, the little beta had somehow found her way to weasle in his bed. Hunk had a lot to think about, but somehow, Pidge being there made his troubles feel a lot further away. Still, he was definitely going to have a lot to prove to the Holts, not to mention showing Pidge to his family. His mothers seemed pretty happy for him, but that was only face value. He wanted Pidge to really get to know his family and vice versa. Not to mention his two sisters. Hunk was the youngest of the family, which he had shared in common with Lance. He was going to go over to his mothers’ house with Pidge to make sure they got acquainted. 

He heard a buzzing noise on his phone, and reached over from his nightstand to pick it up. 

Lance. 

Well this was probably about earlier. He answered, seeing Lance onscreen, though the image was darkened, like all the lights were off, save the dim glow of Lance’s phone on his face. “What’s up?” Hunk asked, yawning a little as Pidge snuggled into his chest, probably still awake, but trying to ignore to noise. 

“Okay, so Keith and the kids are asleep, so I gotta be quiet.” Lance said, whispering into the phone. “But I am freaking out man. My parents invited Keith and me to a Sunday breakfast.” 

Hunk quirked an eyebrow. “So? I thought your family getting to know each other is a good thing? Pidge is coming over to my family’s house.” 

Lance chuckled softly, but it looked like he was going to cry. “You don’t know my family. They’re passive-aggressive as quiznack. They’ll chew Keith’s oblivious behind right up!” he rubbed the corners of his eyes, he was definitely on the verge of tears. 

“Hey, hey. Don’t worry, it’s going to be alright.” Hunk consoled, wishing he could just hug Lance on the other side of the screen. “You love Keith, and Keith loves you right? That isn’t going to change in one day.You’re mated, you have _children_ together.”

“Yeah… children…” Lance muttered, and Hunk wondered if maybe he hadn’t chosen the best line of argument. After all, Lance was going through something with his attachment to the kids.

Hunk frowned, trying to read Lance’s face. “But?” He asked, just wanting to know where his best friend’s headspace was at the moment. He wanted Lance and Keith to keep the twins, but ultimately he knew it wasn’t his decision. 

Lance’s line of sight shifted away from the camera. “But… I feel depressed. Everything that could be good about the twins is sorta warped or something in my head. I thought I wanted a big family, but even two seems like it’s an impossible challenge.” 

“Have you ever thought of seeing a therapist?” Hunk asked, cocking his head to the side. 

“What? You mean a shrink?” 

Hunk chuckled, “Not a believer of mental health?” 

There was a slight pause, and Hunk could see Lance biting his thumb nail. “Well, not exactly… My mom was talking about doing that… but with addressing the whole bisexual issue.” 

Hunk remembered hearing that, but it still made him upset to hear it again. “That’s a load of quiznack…” he muttered. “I’m talking about a real therapist, one that makes you feel better about yourself, not worse.” 

Lance sighed, thinking it over. “Well I guess I could choose my own therapist. Anything to get me back on my feet again.”

“I think you’ll do just fine, but there isn’t any shame in admitting that you need help.” Hunk replied. 

“Thanks Buddy.” 

“Anytime.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In lieu of work, school, and depression, I have a new updating schedule: every other week on Mondays. This is subject to change based on hopefully being able to get things done more quickly, but we'll have to wait and see. 
> 
> I may or may not be projecting my parent's biphobia on Lance's, and I realized I keep switching Leia/Lila's name on accident, and I may or may not change that. Oops-


	19. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge gets to meet the Garett's and Keith goes to church for the first time.

Getting ready that day was very important for each member of voltron. Allura and Coran were to introduce themselves to US intelligence, Shiro was going to look for Adam, and the two couples in voltron were going to meet families for the second time ever, but this time really getting to know each other. 

Before leaving, Coran and Allura presented Lance and Keith with two little yellow onesies for the twins. “We weren’t sure if these were earth appropriate, but we asked Shiro after we saved them from the castle supply.” Coran explained. 

“As well as the fact that we know they’ll look so cute!” Allura chimed in. 

Hunk helped Lance change the babies into the outfits while Keith talked to his mother, and Pidge was just getting some last words in with her brother about the castle blueprints. “I think your family will love these outfits.” Hunk said with a smile. 

“I’m just hoping they’ll be too busy doting over my kids to pay too much attention to Keith and I.” Lance said, shaking his head. 

It was hard to understand what was going on in Lance’s head, but his family seemed vastly different from Hunk’s. To be fair, Hunk’s family was an odd family- or at least out of the ‘nuclear’ type. Two mothers, that’s what Hunk grew up with, and honestly, he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. His mother’s names were Christine and Heather, and they loved him to pieces, as well as his two older sisters. 

Lost in thought, he almost missed the rap on the door. A foot stepped in, wearing dainty little flats, and an actual dress to match. 

Pidge. Hunk looked over, his cheeks heating up at the sight of the girl- his girlfriend, in a dress for the first time. “Wow.” he said, his mouth slightly parted. 

“My mom brought me one of my old dresses… I figured since this was going to be a special thing that I should wear it.” She said, tucking some of her short hair behind her ear. “Is it too much?” 

Lance chuckled, side eyeing Hunk. “I think Hunk’s head is about to explode.” he teased. 

“Oh hush.” Pidge huffed, crossing her arms. 

“It looks great Pidgey.” Hunk said, walking over to Pidge and hugging her. “I can barely take my eyes off you.” 

Pidge blushed, stiffening a little. “I guess that means we’re taking Green to your house?” she said coyly. 

Hunk shook his head. “I don’t think there’s anywhere near my house to land- We’ll probably have to ask one of my family members to pick us up.” he explained. 

“Oh, too bad. My family lives on a farm so we’re just gonna land Red in an empty piece of land.” Lance said. 

It wasn’t long before the two couples were on their way with their plans. A little buggy car pulled up to the gate where Pidge and Hunk were waiting, and a young woman with a round face, poked her head out the window. “Hey, remember me fart face?” She teased, unlocking the car doors. 

“Olivia, you promised not to be embarrassing…” Hunk muttered, making Pidge giggle. “So yeah, that’s my oldest sister. Olivia, meet Pidge.” 

“Pidge? That’s pretty unique. Where’d you get a name like that?” 

Pidge stepped in the car first before responding. “Oh, it’s a nickname. My real name is Katie.” she explained. 

Hunk had almost forgotten Pidge’s real name. It made him feel a little guilty, still unsure of what Pidge preferred as far as names went. He just always knew Pidge as Pidge. Hunk followed into the car shortly after, “So why didn’t Mom or mama pick us up?” Hunk asked, wondering why his mothers were away. 

“I asked if I could pick both of you up.” Olivia explained, starting to drive away as they buckled up. “I… I really missed you Hunk. One minute you were just away at school, and then… then you’re gone.” 

Pidge looked over at Hunk, who was a little deflated. “I know what you mean. It’s kind of my fault this all happened. My brother and father had disappeared on a space mission, and I was looking for him. It was kind of an accident getting Hunk involved.” 

Olivia nodded, her eyes sort of trained on the road, because she had to. “It's not your fault. If I’ve learned anything in these past years, is that family matters.” 

~~~

“Because family matters.” was Keith’s response to Lance asking why they had to do this. They were flying to the McClain farm at speeds that were slower than Red usually ever went. Lance was really stalling for time. 

Lance sighed, looking back at Keith who was still playing with the twins on the floor. “I don’t like to watch my family be mean to people I love. It always ends badly.” he said. 

Keith booped Leia’s nose making the baby squeal. “Who can be mean to these little girls?” 

“I’m not talking about the girls, I’m talking about you.” Lance told Keith, letting Red take charge as he swiveled back to look at Keith. “When my mother doesn’t like someone, she’ll stop at nothing to make me feel the same way. It took me a long time to realize what a master manipulator she is, including being sent up to space with people who actually care about me. The worst thing is… I still love her, and I want her to like me.” 

“Lance.” Keith said, giving a soft smile. “You’re the most loving person I know. I don’t doubt for a second anyone can make you stop loving me.” 

Lance laughed a little, standing up to hold Keith’s cheek. “Oh my god, stop being so adorable.” 

~~~~

“Oh my god you’re so adorable! Heather, Come look at Hunk’s girlfriend!” one of Hunk’s mothers said, calling out for her wife. She seemed to be an alpha, given the scent she was giving off. “You can just call me Christine, and of course, don’t feel it as a bother to go by a first name basis. Heather!” 

Another woman came to the door, roughly the same age as Christine, but this time a beta. “Oh my- you weren’t joking.” she replied, giving a soft smile. 

Hunk hid his face in his hands. His family was loving, but at times they could be… a little much. “Pidge, these are my mothers, Christine and Heather.” 

Pidge looked back at Hunk, amused by the boisterousness of his family. She was a little embarrassed as well, but she wasn’t going to let it get in the way of things. “Thank you, it’s really nice to meet you.” she said as she was invited into the home. It was a little… eccentric in the home, light but modern decor with random splashes of color. There was even a plastic, or possibly stone statue of an organic shaped orange bob just sitting in the corner of the living room. 

“We were just going to eat out for lunch, but if you haven’t had breakfast, feel free to poke around the kitchen. Evelyn! Your brother is home!” Heather called out. 

An older teen with long black hair, and a very tall stature came out from the hall. “Henrae…” she said quietly, almost awestruck, using Hunk’s real name. “Is it really you?” 

Hunk smiled, going up to Evelyn. “Yeah. I missed you.” They hugged, and then parted. Evelyn waved shyly at Pidge. She may have been the tallest out of everyone, including her mothers, but she had the softest personality. 

“Hey, you never hug me.” Olivia commented, raising an eyebrow at Evelyn. 

Evelyn didn’t respond, instead just rolling her eyes, it was clear that the loud one was Olivia, but Evelyn had a hidden personality of her own, and Hunk had seen it in the past. Oh well, eventually Pidge would come to know his family and the craziness that they were. 

Pidge and Hunk ended up skipping out on the offer of breakfast, but there was so much to talk about that they weren’t thinking about being hungry. Hunk tried to explain how he had even gone to space. 

“And so there was this giant metal robotic lion in the cave we had found.” Hunk continued, his family looking at him as if he had grown a third eye. He had almost forgotten how odd this whole story was, given that it was his life now. “And what does Lance decide to do? He climbed in it, and then everyone started to, including me, because I wasn’t about to be left alone in a cave like that.” 

They continued to listen to Hunk, budding in with questions now and then- or at least Olivia had tons of them, mostly related to what space was like, and how everyone could communicate with each other- small nit picky details to be frank. 

~~~~~

“Stop being nitpicky about Lila’s hair. She looks fine.” Keith assured Lance, who was fussing with the direction Lila’s tufts of hair strayed off to. They were walking to the front of Lance’s old home, a farmhouse in the middle of a rural country area. 

Lance sighed, booping Lila’s nose as if to make up for all his nervous energy. “I know, it’s just- these girls gotta look stinkin cute, so they can distract my family from… well from us.” 

They waited at the door, giving it a knock. 

“MAMA PAPA ESTÁN AQUÍ” A loud male voice could be heard, and several shufflings, a couple “Hey!”s and eventually, the swinging open of the door. 

It was the whole McClain clan, each taking their time to hug Lance, and sometimes even Keith, who was definitely not expecting that, though it was possible that most of them only did it to get close to Isabella, and coo in her general direction. Some of the little kids filtered into the room after the adults and older teens, running around. 

One tugged on Keith’s shirt, looking up at Keith. “Why are your eyes so small?” she asked, making Keith hold back a little bit of laughter. 

“Oh uh, some people are just born that way.” Keith replied, but he had quickly lost the attention of the girl, who raced off to play with her cousins. They were like a stampede, rushing wherever the wind would take them. Keith wasn’t used to such a busy scene, and having so much family around. Was this the kind of family that Lance wanted? He looked over at Lance, who was presenting Lila to his mother. He looked… off… Was it something his mother had said that Keith had missed? He was unsure. 

So both couples got a first impression of their family. They would just have to see how the rest of the day would go. 

The kitchen was bustling with energy at the McClain’s house. The scents were all rich in flavor, both from human scents, and the lovely food that was being made in the pans. They seemed to all be on low heat, but there was something they had to do before eating. 

Church had never been something that Keith had ever been interested in, or even religion as a whole, but he was willing to try to sit through it, so that he’d make a good impression on the family. Service started out with singing, and Keith could kind of equate them as love songs to a higher power, that being their god. The music was very loud, like a concert, and the base echoed through his body, like it was trying to shake him up. Lights flashed, again, like a concert, and Keith found it rather funny when one of the light mixes were red, blue, and purple, almost like a bi flag, but not quite. 

Then came the sermon, which Keith had been very nervous about. With all the homophobic, and racist things that came from a great number of christians, he had expected every bible excerpt to be something of that nature. This sermon was about spiritual gifts, traits that “god” had given each believer to help further the church’s mission. Keith felt it a little self serving, but he wasn’t exactly appalled by anything that was said. It just was, and he looked over next to him, seeing Lance taking notes with a pen and paper- actually most people were. Was there going to be some sort of religious test at the end of it? 

He picked up the pamphlet that he had set to the side, and found a part that had writing on it, but also some fill in the blanks. Quiznack. He was glad that the twins were in their baby carriers so he could scramble to complete this weird bible worksheet, copying from Lance’s in order to get everything right. 

Much to both Keith’s relief and annoyance, there was no quiz at the end of the sermon. He just had a worksheet that he was probably going to throw away in the near future. He tucked it into his pocket, and helped Lance move the carriers from their seats. 

“So, how did you feel about the message?” Mrs. McClain asked, coming up to Keith. 

Keith cleared his throat, looking over at Lance for a split second. He was doing this for Lance. “It was good. I guess everyone has their own talents, and mine… well I’m still searching.” If he asked Shiro, he’d say leadership, which wasn’t true. He definitely wasn’t hospitable, and he never prayed. Maybe he was a good listener? He didn’t really care about being a christian, but he cared about getting Lance’s mother to warm up to him. He was just happy to get home, back to the delicious food he had been promised. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Keith's experience of church is just what I had had all my life. I realize there are thousands of other church environments, and religious practices.
> 
> P.S. Please comment, because it feeds my want to create lol


End file.
